ML20129E406
| ML20129E406 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 05/22/1985 |
| From: | Weiss E HARMON & WEISS, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20117P504 | List: |
| References | |
| REF-10CFR9.7 NUDOCS 8506060485 | |
| Download: ML20129E406 (35) | |
Text
,
t UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS i3 c.... ie.t me..e. s.w.. s. >>oi. washi,te. oc 2eo36. <2o2> 2*.56oo UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION STATEMENT OF ELLYN R. WEISS HARMON, WEISS & JORDAN WASHINGTON, D.C.
GENERAL COUNSEL UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS MAY 22, 1985 I want to begin by drawing your attention to two reasons why restart of MI would be unlawful.
First, as you are all aware, the ASLB issued a decision on May 3,1985 ruling that, as UCS had argued, operator training at MI-1 is deficient because it provides for no objective systematic on-the-job evaluation, contrary to INP0's own guidelines which have been officially endorsed by the Commission.
GPU was directed to produce a plan for correcting this within 30 days and to seek the agreement of the staff and UCS on its terms.
UCS and the staff were'given 15 days to respond.
The ASLB also ruled that full compliance with this requirement could be treated as a long-term iten i.e., delayed until after restart.
UCS's view is that there was no rational basis for putting this in the long-term category. However, even if the ASLB was right in doing so, the clear terms of the order setting up this proceeding require a finding by the ASLB that reasonable progress has been 8506060485 850522 PDR 10CFR PT9.7 PDR i
Mai. Of fice: 26 Church Street. Cambridge, Massachusetts o2238. (617) 547 5552
9
. A made toward achieving compliance.
Such a finding is a condition of restart.
The Board did not and could not make a finding of reasonable progress since there has yet been no progress.
GPU has not even submitted its plan.
Therefore, you may not lawfully permit restart.
Secondly, your decision in CLI-84-11 directed the staff to certify "in two weeks" the ability of certain safety equipment in WI-1 to survive and perform its safety function in the radiation caused by a serious accident.
This is necessary in order to resolve a UCS contention clearly within the scope of the restart proceeding.
Ten months later, the staff has now written to GPU that the equipment is so qualified.
However, UCS is legally entitled to review and submit coments on the data and analysis used by the staff.
The Commission may not lawfully resolve a factual issue in the hearings by fiat -
nor may it delegate decision-making responsibility to the staff, which was a party in this case against UCS.
Thusfar, we have not been provided with the information necessary to prepare coments. This is a legal bar to restart.
Let me speak more generally now.
Several of you have expressed the view that six years is enough - it is time for a decision. We agree.
In fact, we believe that you could have made your decision years ago - a decision that GPU is not fit to hold a license to operate TMI-1.
Let us all be clear.
The problem with this proceeding has not been that a "yes" or "no" decision has been unduly delayed.
The problem is that the Commission has never been prepared to seriously consider that "no" is an option.
The " delay" in reaching a decision has resulted from the fact that each time in the past three years that the Comission has prepared itself to allow restart, facts have energed making that politically or legally impossible.
First it was cheating operators, then material false statements, then an
I' indictment and guilty plea for leak rate falsification, then harassment of clean-up workers.
It is now apparent that GPU made material false statements even in its original response to the NRC Notice of Violation concerning the TMI-2 accident.
Even the NRC staff, which has supported GPU throughout, concluded that had it known all of what is now known -regarding GPU's integrity, it would have concluded that GPU did not meet the minimum standards under the Atomic Energy Act for a nuclear plant licensee.
What is the Comission's answer?
That some fundamental change in the corporation has taken place?
If so, why has not a single GPU or Met-Ed employee ever been identified much less disciplined for responsibility for the leak rate falsification which has resulted in the first felony conviction of a U.S. utility for Atomic Energy Act violations? Why does GPU still continue to vouch for the integrity of Mr. Arnold and Mr. Wallace, his second in comand, who is personally responsible for the false response to NRC's original Notice of Violation? And here we come to the crux of the matter.
As events come to i
light, GPU first denies them.
Then, if denial becomes no longer tenable as l
charges come to center on an individual, GPU's response is simply to gently nudge that individual into a nice job in that vast GPU universe beyond TMI-1.
Meanwhile, it never disavows the acts of the individual nor takes any responsi-bility at all.
Most incredibly, once shifted outside TMI-1, even if to another nuclear facility, the NRC staff has no further interest in the indi-vidual and continues to endorse the integrity of those left behind who made the reassignment without so much as disavowing the acts of the individual.
There seems to be no limit to the NRC's willingness to accept this cynical manipulation.
. ~
Some of you may ask yourselves why so many conservative residents of central Pennsylvania, families with no hidden political agendas, people who believed before 1979 that the government protected them, no longer believe it.
This is why.
They know that the law states that the protection of the public is NRC's primary obligation.
And they have seen the law reduced to meaning-less words and tortuous procedural evasions.
Six years is enough - it is enough to know that GPU should not be permitted to operate 'INI.
I only wish that I could believe that when you take your vote, you will bear seriously in mind that you do have two choices; it is not too late to affirm that the NRC really meant something when it said that nuclear licensees must have the highest standards of honesty and competence, that the public safety demands no less, and that GPU does not meet the test.
Ellyn R. Weiss General Counsel (202) 328-3500 Robert D. Pollard Nuclear Safety Engineer (202) 296-5600
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peamens a==, tamrules by Phandelehin faseeemomm Ima.
ese M. Breme owess. Femadmasaan. Pa. asset 3431Lte:EIgL stMiDit L tostris 33.
praisans Esasselve scher ge.r
) us.4.y.ua,ehts.1m rege w XRC's decision on TML
Going for the capillary'.
,0n Aug,9,1W9, the Noclear Regula nass ol'and respoestbuty for the 1Begal tory Pa==ta=8a= determined it lacked acdvities that occurred at 1MI. Those enough information to determine that activities resulted la Metropolitna Edi-
.the andamagert Unit I reactor et the son Cow (which operated TM1 et the Three Mile Island nuclear plaat could tisse'of the 1M9 accidaat la Unit 21 he safely tuerced to service. In an entering a pies to seven of 11 erder lassed that day, the IntC set noents of records at Tbst forth a specific list of geestions it Unit 2.De IGtC has never completed wanted answered before voting to re-its own inva=rigerian of those charges.,
start Unit L Mr. Asselstine asserted that "the A8 time passed, the scope of the commissica does not ready care to
{
IGtC's invesugation into Unst 1 broad-know the tas extent of what occurred esed. New information arose about so-and who were rnsponsible.*
mimica demo.s.,,te, te,e tile,or,m-co
-.rious ma.nagement and safety deficien-
"Once again* he wrm e-e.outy.
i,about aimat s.
falsilled records, t chameing on tag fo.r he capiHary la resolving as l,etC licenslag examinations, abou.t ha-gg,,,
emmeni of es,ioyes ed
.fsty-and aboei.e who.
,j=cma,gburgh:a,3,*e, ii-i-e s.e-of o,,
j employee training progress. The 2e Casamonwealm of peansyle i
more the IGtC looked, it seemed, the caus on me ea==h a reconsider more it found. And the more it found, its Feb,25 vote and conduct addittoaal the clearer it became that the NRC's hearings on safety and management initial reservations about the safety of quesnon8 Price to deciding wm m the plant and the competence of those
'8 U888 8-who woeld run it were seenfied.
"There should be 30 choice at all On Feb. 25 of this year, however,the between resolving safety questions be-l
!GtC majority decided it wanted to learn no more. By a 52 vote, it de. fore cracking up a nuclear reactor,or g
simply puttag off asse questices and clared est "no former hearings are crosstag our flagers," he said la a g
warranted" before voting on restart. statement accompanying the petition tag Unit 1. In additica.-the NRC de.
cided that it would act even consider to the ea==*=taa l
la its decision major porticas of the
" Farther hearings in this prood evidence compiled to date-evidence ing are assonnal to answer quesdons that detans serious deficiencies in de-that are basic to the health and safety sign, management and safety, of those who ifve within the vicinity of Those two decisions have prompted Three Mile Island and to their ea'rison-i sharply worded protests from Gov. ment, and to the integrity of this pro-i Dornbergh and 34tC t'a==s=ta==*, seeding and how this commisstaa res.
James K. Asselstine, who argue that alates the nuclear ladestry," the post-a 8
the===i=saa mWority le blatancy tico argeet 8
ignoring the terms of its 1979 order as "If the commistica's Feb.25 orderle well as a naaber of !GtC procedural allowed to stand, nt will virtually gear-requirements and public statements antee that the record never wt!! be
,t that it vuoald not return Unit 1 to sufficiently complete to justify a fe. g operation natil the safety of the plant start vote and that the public aever c had been demonstrated. NRC ra===ia-win receive the safety assaremens it a moser Frederick M. Bernthel also fHed Asserves froen this ea==* aman
- It F a protest of the comminham's vote, continued, listing areas where add 6-labeling it the " latest and acet out-tional hearings were necessary f
semeding pobus laterest casualty" of TheargumentsofCommtaulonerAs g the IGtC"a deliberative process.
selstine and Gov. Thornbergh are 1 la reciting the lengthy list of unan-compelling and cannot be ignored. g swored quesuons that the NRC major-The NRC must heed them and post-ity acw elects not to take into consid-pone a vote on Unit 1 until all ques..e eretion, Mr. Asselstine snakes special tions are resolved. Dat was a wtaa 8
1 acte of the coensission's la-k of inter-decision in 1979. The passage of time est is, determining corporate aware-has made it even more imperative.
f I
ar suma ptocermad N'W~
drewfag a consecues betwesa these The Maclear Regelstery Commit
.y 4' L f,A.
arene... and the direct impmet ther ston voted yesterder aos u enll.
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would have ID seras of the d=Name d' @g%e,h"he* $.$.. irk that woeM have ta be made fy an agency Jedge who had r
Inceastag boart"-
morensd ot teing beassd dertag heap
. rs %, *T Smith has base chairman atace tags ce the Three Mile Island me.
t f 47Tv'd*VS* Q 1979 of a thre> member inceamag cleer plant v& M*Y1 r'
, Gw # v Bob Newtla, as IIRC arah====.
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'TI board that has been conducting said the cousminfon voted 54 fa a
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hearings on whether CPU Necteur closoddicar ausslom est to dismiss Corp., the operster of TMI. should be Ivan Smith as chaltman of am NRC -
allowed to restart its endamaged a
licensing board that has been hear.
, y Unit I reactor. Unit I has been east tag evidence ce whether the anden-aged Unit I reactor at TMIshould be
?.-.
down since 1F79 rader as NRCorder y'.
4 **
that came to the afternsth of the Gov. Thorebergh. the NRC semit
-] 4 h March R 1979, accident at t'n.tt 2.
restarted.
Smith,who has maintained that he and two other parties favolved la JiQ7f did not act taproperly, declined to 3-..
1MI restart proceedtags asked for comment on the comunasion's dect.
Smith's removal earlier this year af-sion. Attorneys for TMI Alert, a Her.
terit was disclosed thet he had seat a risburg cittnens' gree and the letter to a federal jedge la Harris.
Union of Concerned tests, a berg in which be erged lessency for Ives amith
. Washington group, had joined state s tormerTM1supervtsor ceavicted of M a 500 TMt hearing ettorneys and the NRCstaffin asking cheatsag ce a federal liceming for Smith's removal from the boartL enas.
New!!n said the commissice's ree-
"I aweit with interest the comml>
In a related matter yesterday,TMI sons for voting against the requests sloe's etplanation as to how this de-Alert asked the NRC to hold formal to dismiss Smith would act be made cision can possibly embance pubtle hearings ce e regnest by GPU pebile entil an official orvier ens confidence in the integrity of the clear to bagte operating Unit I with-toned and affirmed by the coesmisk restart pr=aadf af" est repatting or resortog from sers-stee es several days The commis-NRC commisssomer James Assel-loe about 225 deteriorated tobes la sk,o's decision came under immedi. seine amid yesterday that althooth he the reactor's cooltag systess believed Smith had acted taproperty Joanne Doroshow, sa attorney for see attack try hornbergh.
when he sent the letter erging le-TMI Alert, said radioactive aseam "If this vote taken tehtad closed doors. represen,ts a voltdefloo of Mr. atency for James ployd, the former 'could be released into the Smith's conduct, it is a clear abdace-1MIsupervisor.he did not think that meet if one of the deteriorated teb stee of the commisstools respoestMI-action affected Sm!th's aM11ty to rule were to barst while the Unit I r fairly on two tasees still before the ter was operating GPU Nuclear says try to the pebile interest, ao stdscar licensing boart the defects in the tubes, which are tion that I flod to be particoterty "I 40 hava some problems with attog system, are so small that their contained in the pleet's n _ge inexplicable since the commiston's own staff joined as is calling for this some of the thinas De ISmithi did, condition would not effect the safe partictlerty the letter," Asselstane man's removal," Doratpergh said said. "The difficulty I had was in operetton of the plant THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27,1985 ThreeMileIsland o,er,,,o, m e,,,,es, Lw.ensins Offical Cm M Gms,lan to,esort.e re acter saw Mr. Srn-s lea-a s>,n M v
favorttism toward the utility. His removal I$B NRC from the case was urged by Pennsylvanta Gov. Richard Thornburgh, the NRC techat-est staff and two groups opposing the re start.
By ARW8 J M mer/Reperseve/ Tam wm arneadowsme.
IAst month Mr. Smith refined to step WASHINGTON-The Nuclear Regula-m 3.rWg any personal bias and de tory Qenmission voted to kwp one of its cLw.g "I have acted honorann, ethier".y licensing board officla!s on the tanglui ad appropriately." At that point the Bye Three Mlle Island restart case, despite presklentially apprAnted NRC commis-complaints that heis biased in favorof the stoners took the unusual step of asserting nuclear power plant's owner, control over the disqualification question, The evemember commession's annul-shortcutting the agency's internal appeals system.
maus dectston means the NRC Atomic Safety and IJeenstng Board headed by Testerday, at a closed meeting. all f!ve i
Ivan W. Smith can keep working on a re.
a..
--.=m voted against diptuahfying port on the training of reactor operators by Mr. Smith: their dectstoe was announced General PubDe Ut111tles Corp., which owns by the NRC news ofSce. A spr*esman said the plast. The report, due this spring.
an erplanation of the decismin wt!. 'a as-coukt open the way for the commissMa to sued later.
vote on restarttag the andamaged Thrw g gg gg Mde I.;L,54 Unit I, which has been clos,g A GPU officia, said the ut!nty agtves since the 1979 acendent to its nearby with the NRC decision. adding thr* Mr.
' twin.
Smith has been " evenhanded In December, Mr. Smith wrote a le:
Ing the restart promdtrigs. "in conduct-ter to a 9deraljudge consklering the sea.
Cov. ThorWrgh, however, crttictard tencing of a former 11 tree Mlle Island su.
the NRC. **1 await with interest the com-pervisor whowas convicted of cheating on miss2n's nplanation as to how tJ# da4 a reactor esamir suon. Mr. Smith urged le slon can possibly enhance pubbe confi-atency la the sentenctag, saying a " severe dence in the integrity of the restart prw ertinimal penalty" womJdn't be useful in de crednirs." he said. "If this vote taken te
[
terring "unlikety" future cheating incl.
htad closed doors represents a valkisten dents. The supervtsor, James Floyd. has
' of Mr. Smith's conduct. tt ts a clear atute since been placed on probation and cr.
cation of the commtssion's respon*1bthty $o dered to pay a 32,000 fine and perform 480 the pubhc interest." the governor sax!.
hnurs of communtry service.
I I
TMI is seeking to start up Unit 1.w_,==c: :::7::=.
Hl with deteriorated tubes in > place a#%
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Do,'e"rittaN."aE*r$m'c'u*,*e' Joanne Doro.how an attorney for TMI Alert,
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afammee-t com Uan a was she down for repairs said oh. w. concerned that, ne. it t h.
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ud refsenag.i the um. of a.
broke, "it could whip around and hit other u s.soeinb.s wer.pinasad evereilor s e ane we is b.sei m ar e 4
v.u -
M=ch 2s. Im. aceweni.i na ame' if 2.2se were planad ta a mugie iswa.i===
I""*' "* '"*w="*'. asma. sm, f Unit 2 reactor and has been shut tubes, can.ing theni to rupture "
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down cace under an NRC order.
Dil already has plagged 1.005 suf anad pass me et me r
risonnanc Gss4rti Pabitc Utttitles Corp.
Tubes in one generator and Joe tubes senas tastens sumspi se l,
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- 85 4 la the other.
ouh sissa ene. The
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tGPUI. the owner of TMI has been tubes wee not necessary for safety of Concerned Scientists amid that if Both the NRC and GPU Nuclear
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essaaremmiates VaastTv vatwa asettag permission froan theNRCfor and would reduce the effktency of even cae tube were to rupturelas6de have concluded that the cracks and
.' $Wn be outerlod to staggh i
more than nye years to mort up the the reactor's coollas symen.
the TMI steen generato a, radioac-corrosion la the tubes probably oc.
"8*'8' 58"8d b* "8' eses s
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plant.
la letters to the NRC staff dated tive steau could escape lato the eart-carred la 1981 when a sulfar< con-
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j 5ebstential cracks and corroelen Jea. 31 end March 1. GPU N=rtaar teament through plant valves.
taistag liquid accidentally leaked 8'*"8' 8" '
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i were discovered in thousands of asked peratsalon for a vartance la pollard said that he was concerned into water inside the steens genere-i a
i tubes la the Unit I steens getarasors its Unit I technical specificatloss to that plant operators would act be tors and claer ports of the Uutt t "A*
ttuosa.
r2 late stet Steen genereeors are allow the the tubes to remain la oble ac handle an accident involving reactor coottag system.
massive radiator 41ke devices that service, desplie thstr flaws Under the steam generators "A stessagen-andait said that the corrostom has
\\ anametsmastas convert water to steam, which is plant regulations previcasty ap-erator accident Is ome of the most besc halted aad thet au bst a miaste 1
r ggg g then used to generate electricity by proved by the NRC,steen generator difncult to control.* be can "Fbase amoest of the sulfar has been re-f,
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M turning the t's turbine. The tubes must be plugged or repaired if operatore utit have to control Itve moved.He sand that the company did t;tes,made e aDoy of from, chro-a crack or pit penetrates more than dttferent thlage at the sense time act espect any additsemal corrosion mina and alcket, circulate beseed 40 percent of the way through the manually. In my view it la beyond problems, but he said ht some euneme #
radioactive water through the steem walls of the tatie, which are 1/Jeth of their capeNitty."
small particles of metal could coe-gener: tots, helptag to cool the as tach thick.
Janana Dorombow, en attorney for tiene to fall out of corroded areas of 1
plant's reactor core.
Under the GPU Nuclear proposal. TMI Alert, seed that she was coa-the tabse.
is 1983 CPU Nuclear,a CPU subeld-steam generator tubes with cracks or corned that, eves if ces tube broke,
,I mary. fr_ished plugging or repatrtas pits penetrattag as far as 70 percent "It could whip arosad and hit other Both Doroshow and Pollard said all Js.ces tubes la both Unit I steam of the way through the tube's well tubes caustag them to rupture."
they believe that GPU Nuclear's dis
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generators, at a cost of nearly 530 could remata la service if the defects andait said that the defects in the covery of additional defects la Ni-enas I
t*ag In October, as NRC liceas-were 2/10 of as tsch orless talength.. Unit t tsbes are so small that it vember ind6 cates that the tubes are i
tag board concluded that the cracke Bodell sold a CMI Nartaar analysis would be "vtrtaally impossible for contiantag to deteriorate. Pollard taside each tube to relaforce them ruled that repairs made en these a ! had been s=r==ar lly repaired.
a showed that tiny defects penetrattag these to ropters." He sand that if the send he behewed the degradataos by forcing them against a steel plate-tubes " reasonably assure" there is no Set la November.thecompany dien 70 percent of the way through the tubes were to begin to leek,the prob. would comunne because not an of Oppontats to the remart or the increased chance of as acx1 dent, Unit I reactor have argued that there Bedell said that the compear ex.
covered additional sanau defects la a tubee' wolle are ao snore dangerese les would be quickly discovered and the selfer that is believed to have le no assurance that h repairs are ed the repaired generators to jotal of 32 tubest 1be company com-than much longer cracks that are the plant would be safety shut down. ceased the corrostoa la 1985 has ji ! claded that thans defects occurred to caly 40 percent of the way through.
Dereshow sold she beHeves that been reenoved-adequate to guarastce it'a safe opere-JS years. If the generators have May, whom the meme generators
- We are not propostag to operate GPU Nuclear was seeking to evekt' "They have not genes au of N board conducted heartags on the re-cost more than $100 million and take tion of the ytant. An NftC hcenstag to be replaced,he seki, thejob would J ll corroded stees of the tubes caestas were temend. Compeay officials say thle plant unsafety
- he said. "That plegging the tabas because it is war, sulfer out, not can they get it all pett process ta July and la that tiny peaces of metal fell out of would be entremely foolbardy."
ried that it will soon have too unemy out" he sad Two ers==*=a'a==. TMl Alert and tubes out of opera' ion. "GPU is fear.
The safety of the steen generators,
emett ytte to deve4 the Union of r'aararned Scientista, fal that it will approach the plugging has been a key tsese to the ongotag GPU Nuclear removed from serv-have asked the NRC to lavastigste limit. Their regnest for a chemgo debene over whether Unit I should I
ice 141 et the detortersted tabet' the propoemd change la the senom-means the compeay la la very sort, be suowed to lie returned to service.
which are 56 feet long and about as generoep? regulancast TMI Alert ces trouble" she sekt.
To repair the 31,see tubes la the thlch as e flager, by placlag Hach-pleas tr ask the agency to held heel'-
5tiver,of the NUlt', said there le me generseert GPU Neclear mand a tech-y long plege is both ends of the tubes. Ings on the nefety signincence of the
. But the compesy decided agaiman regeest-NRC res t-ia= that specinceny un-algue near before trad at at opeo its the number of -
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attag anclear plant. Ti.e repair proc.
plugslag more that Joe other tubee stobert Pollard, a former NRC esci tubes that can be plugget det Philip ees-known as klaeuc airpaada= --
because it emed that pleggsag the neer who now warbe for the Unica_ Clart, GPU Nuclear pres 6 dest, tohn lavelves detonattag maan explantne
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Ge yftilabelpfna 3niptirer Sunday, March'24,1985 ons DoA Vet 312,No.83 eiess, et.au,ma m e, mews a.
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THIis seeking to start up Unit 1 with deteriorated tubes in place
- By Jim Detlea decMe by the end of this week and Susan pitoGerald w
to approve the cosapeay) j
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The operator of Three Mile Island MRC hee scheduled a meettag
-P' has enked the U1 Nuclear Regab for April 19 to discuse the Unit !
.% 9 <
tory Commision for permission is oisen generators and other 'run to-
- :.- : e.,, 4 begin operating its Unit I reactor ease, la preparettom for a possible
-m.
y, without repairing or remorlag from vote this opring on whether to allow l
J.
service about 225 deteriorated tebes the Unit I reactor le be returned to in the reactor's cooling system, se service.
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required by plant regulations.
Douglas Bodell, a GyU Nuclear *j GPU NuclearCorp.esyethe defects aphaa sold it would cost be.
D la the tubes, which are contained tween 3000,0ee and 31 millies to plug
-i within the planti steentenerating the tubesla questloa,but he sold the P:.--
'a system, are so eseell that their condt. expense had nothing to do with the 47 I,-
'/
AN8 lion would not effect the oefe opere. company's decision to seek the g
tion of the plant.
change la the plaat regulations. He if
'the NRC is reviewing the hil re. sold repairing the tubes would ex.
g i-4 f
quest to see whether the tubes could poor workere to radierton and would
.e' d'
lead to eefety problems if they are needleesty remove 4tou service act repaired or plugged to remove tubes that could help cool down the j
them from service. If a eteengenera-seactor.
tot tube berets while e plant is oper.
But Dil Alert and the Unice of i
eting, redloective steen ces be went. Concerned Scientiate, two groups op.
ed into the environment posed to the restart of Unit to have HarleySilver,aseniorprojectmen. 'espressed concera that the wera for the MitC who u analystag (See Tnti ee ISA) g i
Jteclear's peepasal, sold the.
e i
i Company a request was massaal and h peere elBer the 73G N i
could set a procedent for other an. two oesfer gassflone are beleg ad-Clark clear plants.,ile sold the NRC might deseed Jteview a Opinion,page 4G, PreaWest GPU Jencleer l
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M* Whia h4ser In federal probe of Three Mile Island,:
investigators have be oc me a target'
=d
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..t.d.m. - -
According to soarees, a federal grand jury has. 8de21 *'a=='"w'*== - *=
au-- ~
" 7,e,s. U 4 7 mma.-
T Per senriy sLs years now, seners; begun hearing evidence es whether BC h
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ha"nd accadent have fornsed auch employees inight have thwarted lavestigation of segb== o ^ =>madasadma-a of their artencon on Geneml Pubhc the event 8 Burrounding the TMI accident.
baow satil March 4 appe, em af Unbuas Corp, the owner of the no-
,,,,sr one had unered ma dmange DE: Alert, a ;;.'_ _ --
che sama aus' groep that has huma alden*
Det in roernt dets the etwenon has stufied from the corporsuen te-
- There== inametent dare. part of an NRC re tew of whether m,eervene a es hawtags, t 6,,,
,,g, mg o a.,,,g,i,,y lag taveFJgeted - to the LBVesuge mettauen to support an NRC flading the managsmaat of GyU Macasar has,,,, gn,,,,,,g,, g, g,g gg amas taenselvet that ceafhets in gesuagey from the necamary competence and inaug. W h acidmet GN R wm Imme' la dreasuc. written tesetsony est>
plant personnel were "not the neutt rtty to afety eyerans TMTs and'*
asse arvere San whm TIE mamp mJrted to e Neclear llegulatory Com oflying " Gentile sand the NRC could aged Unit I riscour. GyU has buen amat was 5thlicly taparties assuson hensing board tar week, a Jast as reasonably have concleded
=hrtnf the NRC's approvat Sur mere As part of the Umst I repart gn.
farmer NRC taverugstor sharpl) at-that tytag ses the reason for the See five years to restart Unit 1.
easitsgs, to PSC has aka AGm6 aucked the integrity of an NRC inver coafhcts which was shst down for sw settag aled hawtags as whosha Weges a
ttgetson that had concladed that TMI e The NRC staff dierasund me 12 to time of the surident gu Dd: nector operumse 3 managers did not cover up the sever-asad to portrey favorehly the coe.
The NRC is not arpacted to veer en and whatbar plant tip of the marth tre accident doet of m agencyi ousie person-the roman name matt! the sprtag, et buy safety naards er but Dans 1 Dartd GanMe. who was e acaber nel dartag the acendent so that the the eartsat and 2 ta the nameslanding ey as 9(
sithe invesuganag toast said an Ibe agency) comauscoers would not Osatral as to board) tagetry b assedsmL ase tornacep tMt the NRC) flad-est goescoes about "pamfhis realt of the gemstles of whether W tagt releaumd it 19et.*were act sel>
NRC employes" Th"'**", preadset of WU lied to - The TMI assidust - esasidered perted Dy the facts
- Cungram and to NBC sheet his to weret la es hinery of the as>
At the same ttee. federst sonrees 3aselage of the TM!-Mont la a em) costasresa! anche power te
- '"88 "I
sur that a federal grand fery in heartog last week that Nametry, who May 9, IF% Matigram to US Rep.
destry - encarted when e arts of Westung'oc ties tungun bearing evt-anchanical proklame and huge op desce on whether NRC employees had sold be was recessidertag dealed a peMtsbed report that and Nn mmd like Unt! g IMnN 3D maght have thwarted tavesugation h ee are seerbaut depoedy Baan==="4 et the events surreanding the TM) artposty damaged on W 3 p leksd Den tin penmas es er aczkieat
- two depe haf re that feet aus ye, sad me urnmeng supmE ley b to for Gambw nfed to comment last the NRC. sudd to ma towrview last week at whether the cettents of his wert that he had not been caDed to wrinen casumoey were related to tesufy before the grand jary Mase the grand Jury's inqstry.
M dmM to comment on Gen in tus ter.unony. prepared for an M
uona NRC Atoase $efery and (Jcue.fing l
Daard beartng in Harnsburg. Gaa-Though me NRC has acknowl-bee asJa edged that a grand jury is looking
- Port >ons of the NRC report on into ausged wrongcoing of certain the pausbie w1thholding of informa* NRC employees relaung to their ac-tson were written la draft form b*
tions within the reguistory proema
- fore ser interviews were condected spokamsen for the NRC and the Ja.+
and before tavesnestors engaged to tace Department ref ased to seament
- asy agstricaat invesugscon of the i,,,,,g og,betber tlw grand jury facts '
,es teverussung astiers related to e Norman Moseley. who helped c*
thoet before the NRC bearing board ordinate the NRC tavesugmuoe for the agency n Omar of taspecuon and use Robtasoft a spokeewoman for enforcement la iter and Iset. in.
GPU Nuclear Corp, the cpu entsid.
structed the tavesugaung team nas lary that operetas TM1, refamed to se ame q3escons about wbstbar TMI comment ce Gast#s atieganons emczats fa. led to report infonascon Gamble. who now works as a crtmo I
to Peeney!vanta estboriosa GemNe sat invasugatar for the Defenar De mise emnd that Nameley had g!*en of-paruneet, to espected to tasufy la ders to inveragators that laterviews Person before the NRC bcenstag te !!afted to a pre 4pproved list of boa d cert weet goesoons The bcensing trard s hearicg is
Frid y, April 26,1985 The Philadelphia Inquirer.
P&
1 Pa. tries to halt TMI-restart vote
' d By Jim Detjen continuing effort by Thornburgh to sues relating to the integrity of their and Susan FitzGerald ensure that Unit I remains shut environment," he said.
8'*= kan *$
down until all questions about the Attorneys for the Commonwealth competence and integrity of the Nunzio Palladino, the NRC chair d
.p of Pennsylvania yesterday asked a Plant's operator, GPU Nuclear Corp., man, said last week that he expecter federal court to block the Nuclear have been resolved.
the commission to vote on the restart nn 1 in ay. h agency obsm l
Regulatory Commission from mak-
"There should be no choice at all erS Predict that when a vote is taken
[
ing a decision on restarting the between resolvfng safety questions the NRC will allow the TM1 reactor tt
,/
4 Three Mile Island Unu 1 reactor un-before cranking up a nuclear reac-n oPaahg again.
til more public hearings are held.
tor, or simply putting off those ques,
- b Acting under the direction of Gov. tions and crossing our fingers,"
Unit I was shut at the time of thi Thornburgh, state attorneys peti-Thornburgh said yesterday.
March 28,1979, accident at its sistei tioned the Third U.S. Circuit Court of "The commission has a solemn re-Unit 2 reactor and has remained shu Appeals in Philadelphia to overturn sponsibility to openly address and under an NRC order. TMI is locatet a Feb. 25 NRC order concluding that resolve, prior to any restart vote, all about 10 miles southeast of Harris no further TM111 earings were war. Issues relating to the health and burg.
Gov. Thornburgh ranted.
. safety of those who live in the shad-Two citizens
- groups opposeh,to the Ordered filing of petition The court action was the latest in a ow of Three Mile Island, and all is.
decision on restart," the court peti-1979 accident before submitting it to I restart of TMI Unit I said yesterday tion said.
the NRC.
that they, too, would ask the court to Commonwealth attorneys filed a Early drafts of the internal report overturn the NRC's decision to hold motion on March 13 with the NRC indicated that technical specifice-no more hearings. Attorneys for the asking for the agency to reverse its tions of the plant's operating license Union of Concerned Scientis*.s and Februa y order, but Roland Page, a had been violated, although GPU i TMl Alert said they would file those spokesman for the governor,said the later told the NRC that it had not l Petitions today in the Third Circuit NRC had not responded to the mo-violated its license.
Court cf Appeals.
tion.
Joanne Doroshow, an attorney for l
Frank Ingram, an NRC spokesman, Attorneys for the state listed in the TMI Alert, a Harrisburg group, said said commission attorneys had not motion a number of unresolved is-the petition her organization plans seen the state's petition and would sues that they said must be com-to file toJsy is broader than the one !
have no comment.
pleted before the NRC voter to start filed by Thornburgh's office.
Doug Bedell, a GPU Nuclear up the reactor. A key question is She said the NRC has not adequate-spokesman. said he was not aware of whether TM1 employees were in-ly addressed whether GPU Nuclear the state's action and had no com. volved in the falsification of vital managers harassed three TM1 engi-meat. GPU Nuclear, a subsiditry of safety rxords at both Units 1 and 2 neers who raised questions about the General Public Utilities Corp., has during the months leading up to the safety of the $1 billion cleanup of been seeking permission from the accident.
Unit 2 in 1983; whether the cleanup NRC to restart Unit 1 for the past five The NRC has never held hearings has been conducted safely, and on the alleged falsification of re, whether the training program for years In a 3 2 vote on Feb.13, the NRC cords, despite the fact that Metropoli. Unit I control room operators is ade-ruled that no additional hearings tan Edison Co., the GPU subsidiary quate.
were necessary before it decided that used to operate TMI, pleaded Ellyn Weiss, an attorney with the whether to start up Unit 1. Palladino, guilty or no contest in February 1983 Union of Concerned Scientists, a who voted with the majority, said at to seven of 11 counts of a federal Washington group, said the petition the time,"% ell, let's get on with the criminalindictment that accused the filed by her organization would also show.
company of falsifying records at Unit raise a greater number of objections.
The NRC affirmed that vote in a 2' '
TM1 Alert and the Union of Con-Feb. 25 order.
t the petition filed with the court Last May, a federal appeals board cerned Scientists last week asked the called for the NRC to hold additional NRC to conduct another safety re-yeste d, attorneys for the state said hearings on whether safety records view of the Unit I plant to see if its were falsified at Unit 1. among other equipment could be operated safely.
pricious, no ased n bsta t al evidence and not in accordance with issues. But under the Feb. 25 order, The groups contend that the law "
the NRC decided that such hearings plant's steam generators, which are "The commission has not provided were n t necessary to determine if part of the reactor's cooling system, the Commonwealth and its citizens the Unit I plant could be operated are so deteriorated that a serious with adequate assurances that TM1-1 safely.
accident could occur if the plant is resterted.
can be operated safely, and these Page said state attorneys also want assurances cannot possibly be pro. additional hearings to determine GPU Nuclear has repeatedly told vided if the commission prevents whether GPU managers improperly the NRC that the Unit I plant is in completion of full hearings on man-altered and toned down an internal good shape and is ready to begin agcment integrity before issuing a company investigative report of the producing power again.
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the~ record on steam' generator-issues.
l May-8, ~1985 --- Commission -schedule's. restart v'ote. for May. 29, 1985.
Comm'ission.also : schedules ' oral argument for. May 22.
The1 Governor of Pennsylvania and other officials are
- expected" to address the Commission.
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May. 20,.11985 -- ' State and. local officials, and TMIA expected to file additional court petitions.to try to block restart
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c January 16, 1985 -- NRC Commissioners hold public meeting to discuss whether further hearings will be held in TMI restart case.
Meeting is attended by.over 50 people from the Harrisburg area.
Commissioners adjourn meeting without making a decision.
January 31, 1985 -- GPU submits the first of two requests to the NRC to allow a relaxation in steam generator tube plugging requirements, in order to avoid having to plug and remove from service a large number of defective steam generator tube.
The' company does not notify the Commission, the Appeal Board or the parties of-this request.
February 13,1985 -- By a 3 to 2 vote, the Commission decides at a public meeting that no further hearings are necessary in the TMI-l restart proceeding.
The Commission reverses the Appeal Board which had ordered additional hearings on leak rate issues, and denies requested hearings on numerous other management integrity issues.
TMI residents demonstrate and force the Commissioners to recess the meeting.
February 25, 1985 -- NRC issues official order denying any further hearings in TMI restart proceeding.
Both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and TMIA ask the Commission to reconsider its ruling.
March 12, 1985 -- Former TMI Supervisor of Operations James Floyd, convicted of cheating on NRC licensing exams, is fined 92,000, sentenced to two years probation and ordered to provide 400 hours0.00463 days <br />0.111 hours <br />6.613757e-4 weeks <br />1.522e-4 months <br /> of community service to victims of the TMI accident.
March 15, 198 5 -- NRC Staf f notifies the Commission, the Boards and the parties of GPU's January 31, and later March 1 request to relax the steam generator plugging requirements.
TMIA calls for an NRC investigation into whether GPU committed a material f alse statement by not notifying the Commission, the Boards or the parties of this request.
April 3,
1985 -- Oral argument scheduled before the NRC's
- Appeal Board on the TMI-l steam generator damage and repairs.
April 5, 1985 -- UCS urges Commission to defer operation of Unit 1 due to risks posed by steam generators.
April 25-26, 1985 -- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, TMIA, UCS and the Aamodts file petitions in the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Philadelphia asking for court review of the NRC's February decision stopping all further hearings on management integrity.
May 3,1985 -- Licensing Board issues its decision on training issues, finding in favor of Licensee on all issues except one, for which it leaves the record open.
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s-De,cember 6 and 7, 1984 -- Former NRC investigator _ David Gamble testifies in reogened ASLB hearings that the NRC';s investiga-tion of whether company officials withheld information during i
the accident was deliberately incomplete and inaccurate, and its conclusion exonerating the company of wrongdoing was not supported by the facts.
Deceniber - 10, 1984 -- TMIA asks for an investigation into NRC hara'tsment of witness David Gamble, and possible improper ex parie contacts between the Office of General Counsel. and the NRC Staff.
TMIA is later informed that the Justice Department-requested deferral of any agency investigation of these issues until further notice.
December 10, 1984 -- TMIA files a motion to reopen the steam gene'rator tube hearing record on the basis of new information, including recently discovered, dangerous cracks in unrepaired areas of the tubes.
December 13, 1984 -- NRC Commissioners, by a vote of 2 to 1,
. deny the Aamodts' motion concerning radioactive releases during the Unit 2 accident.
December 14, 1984 -- Hearings end on the the "Dieckamp Mail-gram" issue.
A decision is not expected until Spring, 1985.
December 19, 1984 -- ASLB hearings begin on the second remanded issue, licensee's current training program in light of 1981 cheating scandals.
December 20, 1984 -- Commission denies USC request to delay restart until modifications are made to insure the accuracy of emergency feedwater flow indications.
January 2,1985 -- ASLB Chairman Ivan W. Smith sends a letter to federal district court asking for leniency in the sentencing of recently convicted former TMI supervisor James Floyd.
The letter prompts sharp attacks by local citizens and i
elected of ficials concerning Smith's objectivity as an NRC judge.
January 11, 1985 -- The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania calls for the immediate removal of ASLB Chairman Ivan W. Smith, for showing pervasive bias in favor GPU in the restart proceedings.
Similar motions follow from TMIA and UCS, and l
the NRC Staf f later supports these motions.
January 15, 1985 -- NRC Staf f denies petition filed August 13, i
1984, asking that GPUN':s license be revoked on the basis of deficient character.
NRC Commissioners extend time in 1
which to take review of Staff 's decision, to March 29, 1985.
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July 16 - 18,1984 -- Atomic Safety and Licensing Board holds hearings on TMI-l steam generator repairs.
TMIA is the only intervening group.
The Board refuses to allow in evidence relating to recently discovered steam generator tube problems.
July 26, 1984 -- NRC Staff again shifts position and endorses GPUN management, but concludes that as of 1981, "the licensee had not met the standard of reasonable assurance of no undue risk to public health and safety."
August 13, 1984 -
Four. Pennsylvania elected officials, four New Jersey organizations, and TMIA file 400 page petition, as supplemented, with the NRC requesting that GPUN's license to operate any and all nuclear reactors be revoked on the basis that.the company lacks the requisite character to safely operate a nuclear power plant.
August 15, 1984 -- Pennsylvania Governor Thornburgh addresses the NRC Commissioners at a public meeting urging them not to vote on TMI-1 restart until hearings are held on certain
" management integrity" issues, and until money is obtained to clean up Unit 2.
September 11, 1984 -- NRC Commissioners vote to allow hearings to go forward as ordered by the Appeal Board, but also decide to consider whether the Appeal Board decision should be reversed and the hearings stopped, or whether restart can proceed before hearings are held.
Final decision is expected in early 1985.
September 25, 1984 -- NRC Staff denies UCS petition to require repairs to a key safety system, the emergency feedwater system, before Unit 1 is allowed to operate.
October 31, 1984 -- Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issdes decision approving Unit I steam generator tube repairs.
November 8, 1984 -- NRC notifies Congress that the U.S.
Department of Justice has begun a federal grand jury investi-gation of the NRC Staff.
Inside sources confirm that the investigation is focusing on at least the NRC's handling of GPU's reporting f ailures during the accident, and leak rate falsification.
November 14, 1984 -- ASLB hearings recommence on the first of f our remanded hearing issues: whether GPU President Herman Dieckamp made f alse statements to Congressman Morris K. Udall, and to the Commission, in connection with the TMI-2 accident.
November 16, 1984 -- Former TMI supervisor James Floyd is convicted in federal court of cheating on NRC operator exams in 1979.
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February 29, 1984 -- U.S. District Court Judge accepts plea bargain agreement between U.S. Justice Department and Met Ed settling Unit 2 leak rate falsificatio'n case.
Met Ed pleads guilty to one count, and no contest to six counts of 11 count indictment.
May 22, 1984 -- NRC's Of fice of Investigation announces refer-ral to U.S. Justice Department of OI's recent investigation of whether GPU/ Met Ed deliberately misrepresented to the NRC facts which it knew to be true concerning its own responsi-bility for the accident, and whether a management decision was made to intentionally misrepresent,those facts in the company's own accident investigation.
May 24, 1984 -- The Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board orders new hearings on managerant competence and integrity, agreeing with the intervenors that the Licensing Board deci-sion can not support a finding that management has the compe-tence or integrity to safely operate TMI.
June 1, 1984 -- NRC Commissioners, by as vote of 3 to 1, vote to consider whether restart can be considered before the hearings ordered by the Appeal Board are held.
June 4,19 8 4 -- In response to a Freedom of Information Act request by The Philadelphia Inquirer,_the NRC releases transcripts of closed NRC Commission meetings dating from 1981 through 1983, which reveal a commitment on the part of a Commission majority to restart TMI-1 as soon legally and politically possible.
Also evident is significant disdain for public views on the restart issue, and a serious lack of understanding of the legal and technical issues.
June 15, 1984 -- Former TMI-2 Supervisor of Operations, Jim Fl oyd, is indicted by a federal grand jury for cheating on 1979 licensing exams, and for causing two material false statements to be submitted to the NRC in connection with his license certification.
June 19, 1984 -- Appeal Board refuses to reopen the restart record on the basis of new OI investigations of pre-accident training deficiencies, and of whether the BETA and RHR reports were withheld for improper motives.
June 21, 1984 -- Intervenors Marjorie and Norman Aamodt file motion to reopen the record and delay restart because of new information concerning increased instances of cancer found in the vicinity of TMI.
The NRC has refused to acknowledge that the level of releases during the accident could cause such in juries.
June 25, 1984 -- NRC Staff notifies Commission that a critical FEMA evaluation precludes the Staff from certifying completion of all required emergency planning license conditions.
area Congressmen, state, and. local officials, strongly critisise the restart proposal on the basis that the integrity issues are still unresolved.
i December 7, 1983 -- NRC Commissioners are advised at a public meeting by the NRC's Office of General Counsel that the TMI-l steam generator repairs present a "significant hazard consideration," and a Commission vote which finds "no significant hazard consideration" would violate the Atomic Energy Act.
December 16, 1983 -- Senator Specter holds hearings in Harrisburg on the NRC's handling of the TMI restart case.
January 10, 1984 -- NRC Commissioners split 2 to 2 on whether the steam generator tube repairs present a "significant hazard consideration."
Commissioner Bernthal refuses to vote, claiming such a decision'is unnecessary 4
until the Commission decides how to handle other restart issues.
January ll, 1984 -- TMIA, the Aamodts, UCS, GPU, and the NRC Staff present arguments to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board on management competence and integrity issues.
TMIA argues that a decision on these issues is not possible until all new, unresolved integrity issues are resolved fully in hearings.
January 20, 1984 -- At the insistance of Commissioner Asselstine, NRC releases a list of 63 potentially open integrity issues for public comment, due February 9.
January 25, 1984 -- Commissioners decide in a closed meeting, by a vote of 3 to 2, to hold a public meeting on January 27 to vote on a tentative decision to separate the integrity issues from an overall restart decision, making possible a final restart decision in June, before the integrity issues are resolved.
No public announcement of the January 27 meeting is made, and word does not get out until the next day.
1 January 27, 1984 -- Commissioners vote 3 to 2 to separate the integrity issues from an overall restart decision, and to make a final restart decision in June before the integrity issues are resolved.
Commissioners Gilinsky and Asselstine strongly dissent.
Two area Congressmen, a j
Dauphin County Commissioner, the parties to the restart j
proceeding, and members of the public, are all denied any opportunity to comment at the Commission meeting. Many public officials, including Governor Thornburgh, Senators Specter and Heinz, area Congressmen, state, and local officials, as well as members of the public, express outrage at the Commission's decision.
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September,1983
, staff issues NUREG-1020, its expanded review of the GPU-B&W record.
Seven management integrity issues raised in the record, are considered to impact on 1
-restart, and are referred to the NRC's Office of Investgation.
September 22, 1983 -- Dauphin County Commissioners pass a resolution to establish radioactive air emission standards from TMI, and set up a task force to write the actual ordinance, marking the first time a county takes legally binding action to control the hanards caused by operation of a nuclear power plant.
October 7,1983 -- NRC Commissioners issue Order predicting that if all management intergrity issues must be resolved before restart, a vote would not be possible until mid-1984 at the earliest, and maybe not until mid-1985.
Commission announces it will consider " alternative approaches" and puts a temporary halt to the reopened "Hartman" proceedings.
October 17, 1983 -- Prehearing conference on steam generator tube repairs.
TMIA and the Aamodts participate as intervenors.
Commission has not yet made its final "no significant hazard" determination i.e. a determination as to whether license amendment will become effective before hearing has been completed.
Contentions are accepted and discovery soon begins, scheduled for completion January 31, 1984.
November 7,1983 -- Department of Justice indicts Met-Ed for falisifying leak rate data and destroying documents before the accident, in violation of their license, NRC regulations, and the federal criminal code.
November 8,1983 -- Commissioners meet in closed session and decide to hear orally from GPU on its June 10 reorganization proposal, previously rejected for consideration by the Commissions.
A November 28 date is set for GPU presentation.
Opportunity for oral comment from the intervenors specifically disallowed, but Commissioners later decide to hear from the intervenors on this proposal at a December 5 Commission meeting.
November 28, 1983 -- GPU announces the resignation of GPU l
Nuclear President Robert C. Arnold, implicated in a number of management integrity issues.
December 5,1983 -- NRC Staf f recommends TMI-l restart at 254 power, despite the Staff's inability to vouch for the integrity of GPU management.
Pennsylvania public officials, including Governor Thornburgh, Senators Specter and Heinz,
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safe operation of the plant.
Thornburgh dro commonwealth's appdal on " cheating" issues. psMany fear this points the way to a restart decision before Commissioner Ahearne leaves the end of June.
June 15, 1983 -- NRC Chairman Palladino tells the press a restart decision before the end of June. is " doubtful. "
June 22, 1983 -- Commissioner Gilinsky issues a draft
" restart decision," in which he finds GPU lacks competence and integrity to operate TMI-1.
Be insists that at least GPU Nuclear President Arnold, GPU President Deickamp, and GPU Chairman of the Board Kuhns be removed.
June 28, 1983 -- Commissioners issue memo, stating they are
" unable to decide the management issues at this time," and that a decision will " await the completion" of ongoing NRC investigations into_ management integrity issues.
The i
Commission rejects a staff proposal to separate individuals from the organizational structure for purposes of deciding the management issues.
July 14, 1983 -- In a letter to Chairman Morris K. Udall, House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, NRC Chairman Palladino states, "[t]he Commission does not intend to make a decision on TMI-l management competency until the relevant portions of [the NRC's Office of Investigation's investigation into the allegations of leak rate falisification) are complete."
July 15, 1983 -- In memo to the Commissioners, Dircks states that "in light of the controversial nature of the subject of management integrity and the lack of any precise standards for judging the integrity of individuals and corporate institutions... an evidentiary hearing on management competence and integrity [is) inevitable."
Dirks refers to all five "open" issues which caused the Staff on May 19 to withdraw its support of management.
July 22, 1983 -- GPU is fined $140,000 for submitting a material false statement to the NRC in connection with the license certification of the then TMI-2 Supervisor of Operations who had cheated on his license requalification exam in 1979.
August 31, 1983 -- NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Appeal Board reopens restart record to examine the Hartman allegations.
ASLAB states that reopening consideration of the other four management integrity issues referred to in the May 19 memo is premature, but would be considered at a later time.
.;.. 3
. i.
May 17, 1983 -- Richard Parks wins his Department of Labor complaint and is ordered reinstated.
Bechtel appeals, and Parks later accepts position with Bechtel in California.
May 18, 1983 -- Region I's completed inspection report on the Eartman allegations is issued internally to MRC.
Twelve citizens from Barrisburg area. block entrance to TMI and are arrested.
l May 19, 1983 -- William J. Dircks, NRC Executive Director for Operations, issues memorandum annoucing a withdrawal of the Staff's previous support for GPU management, base.d on the following five "open" issues: 1. the veracity of the Hartman allegations; 2. statements in the Bsw trial record;
- 3. -the Parks / King allegations; 4. the substance of the BETA and RHR reports; 5. whether GPU failed to promptly notify l
the NRC of the BETA and RER reports.
May 24, 1983 -- Tim Martin, who headed NRC's 1980 investigation into the Ehrtman allegations, tells Commissioners at a public meeting that he knew in 1980 that the leak rates were falsified, i.e. that Bartman's allegations were substantiated.
May 31, 1983 -- NRC proposes that TMI-l steam generator repairs present "no significant safety hazard consideration" and therefore, no prior hearing is needed before issuance of a license amendment permitting operation with the "as-repaired" steam generators.
NRC asks for public comment.
June 2,1983 -- Governor Thornburgh urges the Commissioners not to make a restart decision until the state's appeal and all safety issues, especially management integrity, are resolved.
June 7, 1983 -- Dircks writes memo to Commissioners suggesting separation of the ' management integrity" issues from Commissioners's consideration of restart, provided that "certain individuals" are tersporarily removed.
June 9, 1983 -- Chairman Richard Ottinger of the House Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power, Energy and Commerce Committee, tells Commissioners at a public hearing that a "no significant safety hazard consideration" finding by NRC on TMI-l steam generator tube repairs violates the law.
June 10, 1983 -- In a letter to Thornburgh and the NRC Commissioners, GPU proposes some reorganization of its personnel, and promises not to let those who have cheated on exams operate TMI-1.
Governor states that GPU's offer is a
" good start" toward satisfying his concerns about the
.. ~ -
March 22, 1983 -- TMI-2 Senior Start-up Engineer Richard Parks publicly charges GPU and Bechtel Corporation, joint-managers of the TMI-2 cleanup, with deliberately circumventing safety procedures, and harassing him and others for reporting safety violations.
Parks files U.S.
Department of Labor complaint.
1 March 27, 1983 -- Larry King, former site operations manager at TMI-2 and Park's former boss, publicly supports Park's charges, claiming he was improperly dismissed for insisting that-safety procedures be followed.
March 28, 1983 -- Victor Stello's report reviewing the GPU-B&W trial record is issued.
Report concludes "the trial court record does not contain significant information that would affect the Commission's decision regarding restart. "
4 April 2, 1983 -- TMI-2 plant engineering director Edwin Gishcel signs affidavit charging GPU and Bechtel with harrassment, intimidation, and circumventing cleanup safety procedures.
April 6, 1983 -- Stello presents GPU-B&W trial record report to NRC Commissioners, four of whom publicly criticize report, noting it had few actual references to the trial and reached conclusions based more on previous accident investigations than on actual trial testimony. (The NRC Commissioners later ask the Staff to expand its review, and the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation takes over review, appointing a 25-member task force to complete review.
- See, September, 19 83 ).
April 18, 1983 -- NRC staff begins backing away from its endorsement of GPU management, indicating its previously held support for GPU's management was in need of
" revalidation."
April 19, 1983 -- U.S. Supreme Court reverses D.C. Circuit opinion on psychological stress, ruling that an environmental assessment need not be done.
April 26, 1983 -- NRC staff explains that the basis for the need to " revalidate" GPU management was the "open issue of the Hartman allegations concerning the falisification of leak rate data," which could "possibly affect the staff's position on management integrity."
Staff outlines the inspection and review effort initiated by the NRC's Office of Reactor Regulation and the Region I office.
I May 5, 1983 -- GPU reveals for the first time to NRC the BETA and RHR management audits which had been completed in February and March, 1983, and are critical of plant operations and management.
. I April 28, 1982 -- Special Master Milhollin's report issued, concluding that a number of TMI management personnel engaged in cheating and wrongdoing; the overall inte operations staff is inadequate; the company'grity of the s response to certain cheating incidents was inadequate; the company submitted a " material false statement" to the NRC in connection with the license certification of the then-TMI-2 i
Supervisor of Operations who had cheated on this license j
j requalification exam in 1979; many company witnesses gave i
noncredible testimony under oath; and the company's training i
and testing program was "poorly administered, weak in content, ineffective in its method of instruction, and not i
an adequate response to the Commission's Order of August 9, j
1979."
l May 18, 1983 -- Voters in Pennsylvania counties of Dauphin, Cumberland, and Lebanon express 2 to 1 opposition to TMI-l i
restart, in a non-binding referendum.
i July 27, 1982 -- Third PID, reviewing Milhollin's report, issued.
Many of Milhollin's findings are reversed.
- supports restart.
TMIA, the Aamodts, and the Commonwealth appeal decision.
November 1,1982 -- Trial begins in lawsuit filed by GPU against Babcock & Wilcox (B&W) for causing the TMI-2 j
i accident i
i November 9,1982 -- NRC Commissioners hold public meeting before 1,200 Harrisburg area residents, having announced 1
i that a restart decision would be made by December 10, 1982, i.e., the Commission would decide whether the PIDs, all of which support restart, would be made "immediately effective" even though the parties were appealing the PIDs.
i December 10, 1982 -- Day passes with no decision from NRC Commissioners.
December 29, 1982 -- NRC Commission asks NRC Staff to review the record of continuing B&W-GPU lawsuit.
Victor Stello, former head of NRC's Office of Inspection and Enforcement, is assigned the task.
Stello's credibility had previously i
been challenged by at least one Congressional committee on the basis that his TMI accident investigation reports 1
contained unsupported conclusions favorable to GPU, in i
conflict with known evidence.
i January 24, 1983 -- Out-of-court settlement agreed to by GPU and B&W.
Trial ends.
February, 1983 -- Marjority of Commissioners vote down Commissioner Gilinsky's request that the NRC's Office of General Counsel review the GPU-B&W trial record.
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July 9, 1981 - Main restart hearings end.
August 20, 1981 -- NRC reverses its longstanding promise to area residents not to allow restart until all internal NRC i
appeals are complete.
(See, August 9, 1979).
August 27, 1981 -- ASLB issues first Partial Initial Decision (PID), dealing with management issues.
PID supports lifting license suspension, i.e.,
restart.
ASLB relies in part on information contained in NUREG 0680 regarding Eartman allegations.
(see, March, 1981).
TMIA l
and the Aamodts appeal decision.
October.2,1981 -- ASLB reopens restart hearings to inquire into allegations of cheating on operator license exams ASLB defines the broad issue as "the effect of the information on cheating in the NRC April examination... recognizing that, depending on the facts, the possible nexus of the cheating incident in the NRC examination goes beyond the cheating by two particular individuals and may involve the issues of Licensee's management integrity..."
November 10, 1981 -- Reopened " cheating" hearings begin, i
presided over by Special Master Gary Milhollin.
TMIA and i
the Aamodts participate as intervenors.
The Commonwealth l
also participates.
November,1981 -- Justice Department tells NRC that it may resume its investigation into the Hartman allegations.
NRC i
does nothing, and later claims it never got this message from Justice.
4 November 1981 to January 1982 -- GPU discovers 29,000 i
i defective steam generator tubes at TMI-1 caused by mistaken introduction of sulfur into the reactor coolant system.
i December 10, 1981 -- Reopened " cheating" hearings conclude.
December 14, 1981 -- Second PID issued, dealing with design / hardware issues, and emergency planning issues.
PID 4
s,upports restart.
UCS and the Aamodts appeal decision.
January 7, 1982 -- D.C. Circuit rules that issues of psychological stress need not be considered in the restart hearing, but must be considered by NRC under National Environmental Policy Act.
Court orders injunction on restart and orders an environmental study on psycholgical stress be conducted.
NRC appeals to U.S. Supreme Court.
February 1, 1982 -- Harold Denton, director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, calls TMI-l steam generator damage the worst case in the entire country.
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December 5, 1979 -- Met-Ed responds to NRC Notice of violation, denying all charges, but pays the fine.
March 6, 1980 -- NRC Commissioners direct that 13 specific
" management" issues be examined by ASLB.
March, 1980 -- Hartman appears on New York television and publicises his allegations of falsification of leak rate data.
NRC investigators begin investigation into Eartman allegations.
April, 1980 -- NRC investigators conclude that Bartman's allegations were substantiated, and refer case to Justice Department which then begins a Grand Jury investigation.
NRC halts its own investigation.
While then head of NRC Office of lavestigation and Enforcement, Victor Stallo, now claims he told the NRC Commissioners of the Staff's conclusions, there is no direct evidence of this and commissioner Gilinsky and then commissioner Bradford both later announce they were not then told of the Staff's conclusions.
September 17, 1980 -- Faegre & Benson, GPU consultants, issue report to GPU substantially confirming Hartman's leak rate falisification allegations.
GPU withholds this document from the NRC and the public until May,1983.
October 15, 1980 -- NRC restart proceedings begin.
Major issues concern design / hardware issues, litigated by the Union of Concerned Scientists; emergency planning, litigated by ANGRY, Newberry Township Steering Committee, and Norman and Marjorie Aamodt; financial capability, litigated by Three Mile Island Alert; and management, litigated by Three Mile Island Alert and Marjorie and Norman Aamodt.
Issues concerning " psychological stress" are not admitted, and PANE I
appeals to D.C. Circuit.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania participates also in the proceedings.
March, 1981 -- NRC Commissioners dismiss financial qualification issue without case ever having been litigated.
TMIA appeals decision to D.C. Circuit Court, but court decides appeal is premature.
TMIA must wait until restart decision made to challenge the action.
March,1981 -- NRC Staff tells the ASLB, in NUREG-0680, Supplement 2, that "the Staff has reviewed the information that it had obtained to date on the [Hartman] matter, and has concluded on the basis of information thus far obtained that there appears to be no direct connection with the Unit 2 accident."
NRC Staf f fails to notify the ASLB that it concluded in 1980 the leak rates were falsified.
Nor does I
the Staff provide the Commissioners with this information.
(See, April, 1980) l 1
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1 TMI Restart Chronology March.28, 1979 -- TMI-2 accident May 22, 1979 -- Former'contral room operator Barold W.
Hartr.an, Jr. tells NRC investigators that for months before the accident, operators,;with the knowledge of at least low level management, systematically falisified primary coolant system. leak rates in violation of the operating license in order to keep the plant running.
NRC investigators do not investigate Bartman's allegations and do not tell the NRC Commissioners.
June 22, 1979 --
Governor Thornburgh writes to NRC, expressing his " deeply felt responsibility for both the physical and paychological security of the citizens of Pennsylvania" and advising the NRC of his " strong opposition to any plans to reactivate [THI] Unit 1 until a number of very scr.ious issues have been resolved."
July 2, 1979 -- NRC directs that the plant remain shut down until a hearing is held on whether there is reasonable assurance the plant can be cperated safely.
August 9, 1979 -- NRC sets up Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) to hold hearings to determine whether there is reasonable assurance TMI-l can be operated without endangering the health and safety of the public.
Issues include whether the GPU has the requisite managerial, financial, and technical capabilities.
The NRC commissioners commit themselves to directly review any appeal of the ASLB's restart decision, thus bypassing the normal, time' consuming route whereby appeals first go to an NRC Appeal Board.
This means restart could not occur until the Commissioners have reviewed the merits of the intervenors' appeals. (Commissioners later reverse themselves, one week before the first ASLB decision is handed down..
See, August 20, 1983).
October 25, 1979 e-NRC Notice of Violation for the accident issued, finin regulations. g Mt-Ed the r.cximum amount permitted under NRC October 29/,1979 -- Barold Ornstein, investigator for the NRC's Special Inquiry Group (Rogovin Commission) investigating the TMI-2 accident, questions Harold Hartman under oath, at which time Hartman restates his allegations.
Special Inquiry Group refuses to. include these allegations in its report.
./
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principal concern: Is. there reasonable assurance that the health and safety of the public will be protected in the event of a design basis steam generator tube rupture accident?
In the face of these questions, we urge the comreissioners to defer oper-ation of MI-1 unless and until it has been demonstrated that such operation will not pose undue risks to the health and safety of the public.
Sincerely, Robert D. Pollard Nuclear Safety Engineer f>.
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Ellyn;R. Weiss General Counsel
Enclosure:
Safety Pazards of Cegraded Steam Generators at W I-I cc W/ enc 1:
'INI Service List I-l l
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UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS m C...u.._. xw.. s. noi. w..si.,,... oc 2oose. (2o2> 2,..s oo April 5, 1985 Nunzio J. Palladino, Chaiman Thomas M. Ibberts, Commissioner James K. Asselstine, Comissioner Frederick N. Bernthal, Commissioner lando W. Zech, Comissioner U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Gentlemen:
The Union of Concerned Scientists believes that operation of ihree Mile Island Unit 1 (TMI-1) with its degraded steam generators could pose serious risks that have not been evaluated or brotx3 t to the Commission's attention.
h These risks are unique to IMI-1 and arise from the inability of the steam generators in their degraded condition to withstand the forces that may occur following a steam generator tube rupture accident.
We previously discussed this subject in our August 24, 1984 filing with the Comission.
[ Union of Concerned Scientists' Cbjection to Waiver of Sub-i l
cooling Criteria and Comments on NRC Staff's Safety Evaluation of 9abcooling Criteria for Actuating or Throttling High Pressure Safety Injection (SECY 237), August 24, 1984, pp. 10 - 13]
GPU Nuclear's currently pending request to relax the criteria applicable to plugging of degraded steam generator tubes and the scheduled April 19th Commission briefing on the TMI-1 steam generators prcrapt UCS to provide a more detailed explanation of our safety concerns.
Having decided to seek permission to operate TMI-l.ithout replacing the steam generators, GPU Nuclear is attempting to prevent catastrophic rupture of the steam generators by adopting energency procedures that violate a number of safety limits applicable to every other similar plant.
The 7MI-1 emergency procedures for accidents involving leakage or rupture of one or more tubes in either or both steam generators are untried, remarkably complex and confusing, rely fundamentally on improvisation, and would result in unavoidable radiation exposure to the public.
Moreover, there has been no demonstration that, even if these procedures are correctly interpreted and followed, the fuel damage limits specified in the ECCS criteria and the radiation exposure limits for the public muld be met for a design basis steam generator tube rupture accident.
Attached is a more detailed explanation of the unique risks arising from the degraded steam generators at TMI-1.
There are numerous specific safety l
questions that remain unanswered.
These specific questions are related to one
, =.
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THE CHRISTIC INSTITUTE 1324 North Capitol St.
Washington, D.C.
20002 (202) 797-8106 The Christic Institute is a Washing' ton-based law and'public policy center which has been involved in various TMI litigation on behalf of area residents since the accident.
In 1980, the Institute represented citizens in their successful challenge to the NRC's deci-sion to authorize the venting of radioactive gases from the Unit 2 reactor.
In 1982, the people of Three Mile Island, represented by Christic attorneys, filed a class action suit for damages against the NRC.
In late 1984, a federal court ruled that NRC Commissioners were immune f rom such suits, and refused to allow residents to collect damages for violations of their constitutional rights.
Former Harrisburg area resident Joanne Doroshow, now a Christic Institue attorney, has been involved in the TMI-1 restart proceeding since 1981.
THE GOVERNMENT ACCOUTABILITY PROJECT 1555 Connecticut Ave. N.W.
Suite 202 Washington, D.C.
20036 (202) 233-8550 The Government Accoutability Project (GAP) is a Washington based law firm which offers legal, community organizing, investigative and political counsel and skills to whistleblowers and private citizens; and works to expose government and corporate actions that are repres-sive, wasteful or illegal, or that pose a health and safety threat.
GAP represented TMI whistleblowers who reported safety violations during clean up operations in 1982 and 1983.
Since 1984, GAP General Counsel Lynne Bernabei has assisted in representing TMIA in the NRC's TMI-l restart proceeding.
I
)
THE UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS 1346 Connecticut Ave. Suite 1011 Washington, D.C.
20036 (202) 296-5600 The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), is a non profit organi-zation supported by concerned citizens as well as professionals with formal science training.
UCS has been involved in issues related to nuclear power plant safety since 1971.
USC has been an intervenor in the TMI-1 restart proceeding primarily on issues related to plant design and hardware.
UCS has recently become involved in issues related to TMI management.
KEY ORGANIZATIONS THREE MILE ISLAND ALERT 315 Peffer St.
Harrisburg, PA 17102 (717) 233-7897
~
Three Mile Island Alert (TMIA) is a Harrisburg-based citizen group which.was formed before the TMI-2 accident primarily to provide; educational services to the community about the hazards of the TMI' reactors.
After the accident, TMIA became a lead intervenor on " man-l agement" issues in the NRC's Unit I restart proceedings.
TMIA members Louise Bradford and Joanne Doroshow began representing the organi-zation in the NRC's restart proceeding in 1981.
Together with the Christic Institute and Government Accoutability Project attorney Lynne Bernabei, (see below) TMIA has been instrumen-tal in exposing widespread wrongdoing by GPU management and operators, and in uncovering a vast amount shocking new information about the company's misconduct both before and af ter the accident.
TMI A has also pursued issues related to the safety of TMI-l's steam generators, extensively damaged while the plant was idle in 1981.
Through constant perseverance in the NRC's TMI-l licensing pro-TMIA and its Washington representatives have been able to keep
- cess, this evidence in the public eye through public education and political work.
THE TMI PUBLIC INTEREST RESOURCE CENTER 1037 Maclay St.
Harrisburg, PA 17103 The TMI Public Interest Resource Center (PIRC) was formed in 1980 to gather, disseminate and analyze information about TMI and to pro-vide a network system for the six existing community group.
It is a coalition of the following community groups: TMIA (above); Susquehanna Valley Alliance (SVA) based in Lancaster; People Against Nuclear Energy (PANE) based in Middletown; York Environmental Alliance (YEA) based in York; Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power '(ECNP) based i
in State College; and the Newberry Township Steering Committee.
THE TMI-PIRC HEALTH ISSUES COMMITTEE i
c/o Three Mile Island Alert L
315 Peffer St.
Harrisburg, PA 17102 (717) 233-7897 e
The Health Issues Committee was formed in 1982 to gather and disseminate information about health studies concerning the ef fects of the TMI accident.
The committee also excercises oversight over the TMI Health Fund which was formed to fund health studies related to the accident, with money set aside as a result of a class action suit brought by area residents and businesses.
~ o There is significant evidence that company officials have given misleading and f alse - testimony to the NRC's Licensing Board's and to1the Commission.
They have altered testimony in federal court based on false assumptions and unsupported facts in order to
- protect the company's financial interests.
Company management attempted to constrain an. NRC -investigation of allegations criti-cal of management,. and promoted one individual who was delibera-tely uncooperative with NRC investigators.
The company has regu-larly withheld documents which-are critical of the company from regulatory officials.
o.
Since the accident, the company has been cited for numerous regulatory violations.
It has.f ailed miserably in its obliga-tions to fix design and hardware deficiencies revealed by the accident.
b Source:
Joanne Doroshow Lynne Bernabei Attorneys Three Mile Island Alert April 26, 1985 e..
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315 PeHer St., Norrishers, Poema.17102 (717)233-7897 FACTS ABOUT TMI'S OWNERS AND OPERATORS --
GENERAL PUBLIC UTILITIES CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES e
GPU and its subsidiaries created conditions under which the worsf commercial nuclear accident in this nation's history occured, endangering an entire population and destroying a reactor which
- has become a-hazardous menace to the surrounding community.
There is significant evidence that GPU allowed the accident to happen by placing its own financial considerations before safety
-- by allowing operation before construction was complete, by providing those running the plant with insufficient resources to maintain saf ety, by violating regulatory requirements, and by violating the law to keep the crippled plant operating when it should have been shut down for repairs.
Metropolitan Fdison Company, the GPU subsidiary which partly owns e
TMI and operated it at the time of the accident, is the first and only NRC licensee ever criminally convicted of violating the Atomic Energy Act and its regulations.
The conviction establishes that the company maintained a policy to systematical-ly falsify critical safety data and destroy documents for months leading to the 1979 accident.
The company still does not admit that leak rates were falsified.
e During the TMI accident, company officials, many of whom are still with the company, withheld critical information from government of ficials as to its seriousness so that protective action f or the community at risk was not properly considered.
After the TMI accident, company officials lied to the government as to its causes and covered up facts which eventually led to Met Ed 's criminal conviction.
The company rewarded and promoted i
those who misrepresented the facts in the interest of protecting the company from criminal, regulatory and public sanction.
GPU and its subsidiaries have never accepted full responsibility for the accident.
e After the accident, cheating -- by a senior plant manager who was recently convicted of federal crimes -- was covered up by submis-sion of material f alse statements to the NRC.
Af ter the acci-dent, cheating occurred on operator exams, in part due to wide-spread disrespect for training by both management and operations personnel.
e The NRC Staff now admits that during recent Unit 2 clean up operations, company officials willfully violated safety proce-dures.
It has been reported that company of ficials have risked worker ' health and safety through sloppy clean up practices, leading to excessive contamination of workers.
Company officials have harassed, intimidated, discriminated against, and fired clean up workers who reported safety violations.
C s;[:,,.
Questions concerning the character and competence of GPU E management arising out of the trial record developed in'"
GPU's -$4 billion suit against Babcock and Wilcox company, settled in 1983. This includes new evidence that company officials presented false and misleading statements to the NRC concerning its responsibility for the accident.
o Legal actions now being filed challenge the NRC 's February decision to stop further hearings on management capability.
Source:
Joanne Doroshow Lynne Bernabei Attorneys Three Mile Island Alert April 26, 1985
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a TanzE McLe 18 Lana ALERT, MC.
E 315 PeNor St.,Harrishes5, Ptems.17982 (717)233-7887 FACTS ABdUT THE RESTART OF TMI At the time of the March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island Unit; o
2, TMI Unit 1, its sister reactor, was shut down for refueling.
Emo o
On July 2, 1979, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) ordered TMI-l to remain shut down pending public hearings.
The Commission said that it lacked " reasonable assurance" that TMI-l could be operated safely.
o On August 9,
1979, the NRC established a hearing process to examine the restart issue.
Many organizations and individuals intervened in these proceedings.
The first set of hearings lasted from October, 1980 through July, o
1981.
The hearings were reopened after the discovery of cheating by operators on licensing exams, and were held from November through December, 1981.
The Licensing Board found in f avor of restart in three decisions, the last one issued July 27, 1982.
o Intervening organizations appealed the decisions supporting restart to the NRC's Appeal Board.
In May, 1984, the Appeal Board found in favor of the intervening organizations and ruled that the record could not support a finding that company manage-ment was capable of saf ely operating the plant.
Hearings were reopened on four issues.
The NRC allowed hearings to proceed on two issues.
These issues o
were: whether GPU President Herman Dieckamp lied concerning his understanding of the seriousness of the 1979 accident; and the quality of T M I-l 's training program in light of the recent cheating scandal.
Hearings were held from November,1984 through January, 1985.
o On February 25, 1985, the Commission stopped all further hearings concerning management capability and character, and indicated that a restart vote could occur even before decisions were rendered by the Licensing Board on the most recent hearing issues.
Issues on which the NRC has refused to hold hearings include:
o
-- Evidence of deliberate falsification and destruction of leak rate data for months leading to the accident.
This evidence resulted in a 1983 criminal indictment and subse-quent pleas of guilty and no contest by GPU subsidiary Metropolitan Edison Company.
-- Evidence of similar leak rate practices at Unit 1,
involving current TMI-l management and operators.
-- Evidence confirmed by the NRC of recent deliberate cir-cumvention of safety procedures during the clean up, and of illegal harassment and firing of those who report safety violations.
KEY CONTACTS Area Residents
/
UD Joyce Corradi -- (717) 939-0345.
Wife and mother.
Represents
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" Concerned Mothers and Women;" 37 year resident of Middletown, T-PA.
00 p[
Paola Kinney -- (717) 939-3312. Wife and mother. Represents CD
" Concerned Mothers and Women;" 17 year resident of Middletown, p%
PA.
N (717) 684-5129. President of the Three Mile Island CQ Bev Hess C)
Public Interest Resource Center; Active in Susquehanna Valley CV Alliance and issues related to health concerns of those living downstream of TMI; Resident of near Columbia, PA.
C3 Three Mile Island Alert Office -- (717) 233-3072 (Staffed by area C3 residents Kay Pickering, Eric Epstein, Brian Hunt).
Involved in f
all restart community activities and TMI related health issues.
O.
C' Local Elected Officals C:
C)
Larry Hochendoner -- (717) 255-2741.
Dauphin County jg' Commissioner; Outspoken critic of restart; Responsible for putting on ballot 1982 restart referendum.
g_
lZ Legal Issues U) 00 Joanne Doroshow -- (202) 797-8106.
Attorney with the Christic Institute; Represents Three Mile Island Alert; expert on management and steam generator issues; former resident of U)
Harrisburg, PA.
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Lynne Bernabei -- (202) 232-8550.
Attorney with the Government
'((
Accountability Project; Represents Three Mile Island Alert; management issues.
3 (k
Ellyn R. Weiss -- (202) 328-3500.
General Counsel, Union of C-Concerned Scientists; expert on technical issues, also management st and steam generator issues.
CM 03 Robert Pollard -- (202) 296-5600.
Nuclear Safety Engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists; expert on technical and steam generator l
T-issues.
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Contact:
Joanne Doroshow (202) 797-8106
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TO RESTART y ecEy A THREE MILE ISLAND NUCLEAR POWER PLANT wM g
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r on March 28, 1979, a near-meltdown of the Three Mile Island CD N
Unit 2 nuclear reactor started a chain-reaction of political and t
CD N
scientific opposition to unsafe practices of the commercial N
nuclear industry in America.
NO Opposition to new nuclear plant construction, and the cgj continuing hazardous operation of existing plants, has remained O
O hot ever since.
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(\\j Now, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) plans to restart TMI Unit 1 on May 29 -- less than two weeks from o
today.
TMI-1, shut down since the 1979 accident, is the sister Ch nuclear reactor to Unit 2, heavily damaged six years ago in what CD
,C is recognized as the worst commercial nuclear accident in this
.C g) nation s history.
CUg Public and political sentiment against the restart of TMI-1 is the strongest ever in opposition to the operation of a nuclear O
reactor.
Opponents include:
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e Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburgh, who has CU urged the NRC not to vote on TMI-1 restart until L
O hearings are completed on certain " management r
d integrity" issues.
The Governor filed a court 9
action on April 26, 1985 in an attempt to block the g
restart CO Q
e Both U.S. Senators from the Commonwealth of 7
Pennsylvania, and a number of U.S. Representatives for Districts within and adjacent to the reactors.
e Almost all area state and local officials, including State Senators, State Reprentatives, Mayors, members of City Councils, County Commissioners and Townships Supervisors.
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I e Voters in three Pennsylvania counties who
. expressed 2 to 1 opposition to TMI-l restart in a non-binding referendum on May 18, 1982.
jh
.gg Whh all this fuss from citizens, officials and authorities,:am ac w
over the restart of TMI-1, a nuclear reactor which its owners have gone to extremely expensive ends to advertise as " undamaged" by the March 28, 1979 accident?
There are three primary reasons for all the opposition to TMI's restart -- one, is the demonstrated lack of integrity, or
" character" on the part of those who manage its operations; two, is the physically unsafe condition of the plant, particularly in light of extensive damage to the reactor's steam generators in 1981. (See, Philadelphia Inquirer, "TMI is seeking to start up Unit 'l with deteriorated tubes in place," Sunday, March 24, 1985, enclosed with press packet); three is the simple fact that community residents who have already suffered through the trauma of one nuclear power accident, simply will not tolerate living in fear of another nuclear accident.
Opposition to restart because of company management's lack of good character stems from a long history of managerial incom-petence and misconduct dating from long before the Unit 2 accident and continuing to the present day, which the NRC has refused to adequately consider.
This includes:
o Evidence that Metropolitan Edison Company, the GPU subsidiary which partly owns TMI and operated it at the time of the accident, maintained a company policy to systematically falsify critical safety data and destroy documents for months leading to the 1979 accident.
Met Ed became the first NRC licensee ever convicted of criminal violations of the Atomic Energy Act for these incident.
1 >
o Evid:nca cf cicilor pra-cccidInt prcetices at ' Unit 1, involving current Unit'l operations and
- L management -personnel.
e The. company's decision to submit material false
-e statements to the NRC in connection with the A cheating of then Unit 2 Supervisor of Operations,. Ogg
$ -who -last November was convicted in federal court of ^ WW
@; cheating.
This issue was removed from the restart alF hearings before the NRC'ls investigation of this s
ce incident, which resulted in a $100,000 fine against
~
the company.
e Allegations supported by the NRC Staff that GPU deliberately circumvented safety procedures during the clean up, and illegally harassed and intimidated, those who reported these safety violations.
e Questions concerning the character and competence of GPU management arising out of the. trial record developed in GPU's $4 billion suit against Babcock and Wilcox company, settled in midstream in 1983.
-- This included evidence that company officials lied to the NRC as to the company's responsibility for the accident in response to the NRC's Notice of violation for the accident.
-- Evidence that the company may have altered its own internal report of the accident for improper motives, including to improve its litigative i
position.
-- Evidence that company officials altered testimony in this court proceeding based on false assumptions and unsupported facts in order to protect the company's financial interests.
In addition, at this point in time, there have been NRC hearie,s but no decision on whether GPU President Herman Dieckamp made false statements to Congressman Morris K. Udall, Chairman of the House Interior Committee, and the NRC Commissioners, regarding the seriousness of the accident as understood by the company on l
March 28, 1979.,
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGUIAIORY CCtNISSION CC2MISSIONERS:
Nunzio J. Palladino, Chairman Scmas M. Roberts James K. Asselstine Frederick M. Bernthal
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Lando W. Zech n..
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In the Matter of
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ME7I'HOPOLITAN EI)ISON CCNPANY
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Docket No. 50-289 SP
)
(Restart)
F' (W ree Mile Island Nuclear
)
I' E ' ' O' ' "
Station, Unit No. 1)
)
I SERVED MAY f 71985 ORDER
%e order of appearance of speakers and the time allotted for each presentation at the Ccmmission's meeting scheduled for 2 p.m. on May 22, 1985, is as follows:
The Honorable Richard Thornburgh
- 10 minutes 5 minutes
~ Se Honorable Arlen Specter 5 minutes The Honorable George Gekas-5 i'inutes We Honorable Bob Edgar---
5 minutes We Honorable Don Ritter he Honorable Larry Hochendoner-5 minutes 10 minutes Norman and Marjorie Aamodt
--- 10 minutes Three Mile Island Alert 10 minutes Union of Concerned Scientists 10 minutes NRC staff 10 minutes Licensec It is so ORDERED.
,cfA" Ef Guf For' the Ccmnission
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SAMUEL [J. CHILK
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,f Secretarv offthe Ccomission 2
Dated at Washington, De + + * *
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t PRESS ADVISORY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
May 20, 1985 Joanne Doroshow U3 (202) 797-8106 (y
O Lynne Bernabei r-(202) 232-8550
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TO HEAR FROM GOVERNOR, p,
SENATORS AND OTHERS ON TMI RESTART N
CQ C3 NEW LAWSUITS FILED TO BLOCK RESTART CM CV The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a public CD meeting for Wednesday May 22, 1985 to hear directly from Governor C3 Richard Thornburgh, Senator Arlen Specter, Congressmen, local offi-q C3 cials and others, before voting May 29 on the restart of the Three
)
Ci Mile Island Nuclear Reactor, Unit 1 ("TMI-1").
C The May 22 meeting will be held at 2 p.m. at 1717 H St.
N.W.,
IU Washington, D.C.,
at the Commission's lith floor meeting room.
C:
C)
See over for listing of those scheduled to speak.
All sche-
+" duled elected officials, except Congressman Ritter, have expressed fstrongoppositiontoTMI-lrestart.
3E It is expected that large numbers of TMI area residents will U) travel to Washington for this meeting -- the last opportunity for CU members of the public and their elected officials to express their 3s views about TMI-l restart.
The NRC Commissioners have announced l
that they will vote on restart May 29, ending a six year battle 13 with area residents and their elected officials.
C)
TMI-l has been shut down since the March 28, 1979 accident at AU its sister plant, TMI-2.
Opposition to restart due primarily to CL the record of misconduct by General Public Utilities Corp., TMI's
(
00C) owners and operators, and the NRC's poor handling of the issues, has grown dramatically since that time.
l f
C:
) (
st In a related matter, a second round of lawsuits will be l
cy filed today in the U.S.
Court of Appeals in Philadelphia, in an l
[
CQ attempt to block the restart vote.
The petition being filed asks V
r-the court to order hearings on GPU's character to examine whether GPU's license to operate its three nuclear reactors should be revoked.
Petitioners are: Pennsylvania State Senator John J. Shu-maker, Pennsylvania State Representative Peter C. Wambach, Dauphin County Commission Larry J. Hochendoner, New Jersey SANE, Essex SEA i
Alliance, and TMIA.
GPU currently holds operating licenses for TMI Units 1 and 2, and the Oyster Creek reactor in New Jersey.
(more)
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Attached are copies of a Omnission meeting transcript (s) and related meeting 3l doceent(s). They are being forwarded for entry cn the Daily Accession List
- l and plamt in the Public Document Ftxxn. No other distribution is requested l j!
or required. Existing DCS identification numbers are listed on the individual docummits wherever known.
Meeting
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TRANSCRIPT 1
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, p, Attachments,to 5/22/85 transcript " Oral Presentations by Participants.on Lifting Immediate Effectiveness of 1979 Shutdown Orders for TMI-1" (PUBLIC MEETING) 1.
Statement of Marjorie and Norman Aamodt (corrected copy) 2.
Aamodt package
- Notes dated 3/24/82
- Letter from CDC to Dr. Bruce Molholt, dated 1/7/85
- Affidavit of Randall C. Thompson
- Letter from M. Aamodt to Thomas Combs, dated 4/26/85
- Testimony of' Steven Forry, dated 3/27/85
--Statement of Carl J. Johnson, M.D.,
M.P.H.
3.
Statement of the Honorable Don Ritter, dated 5/22/85 4.
Statement of Congressman George W. Gekas, dated 5/22/85 5.
News Release GPU Nuclear, dated 5/22/85 6.
Statement of W.G. Kuhns, GPU i
7.
Statement of Ellyn R. Weiss, UCS, dated 5/22/85 8.
TMIA Press Packet l
i.