ML20138E418

Requests Response to Encl Questions Re Millstone Meeting within Two Week Period

ML20138E418
Person / Time
Site:	Millstone, Haddam Neck  File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date:	08/19/1996
From:	Slosson M NRC
To:	Blaha J NRC
Shared Package
ML20138E414	List: ML20138E410 ML20138E418
References
NUDOCS 9705020192
Download: ML20138E418 (9)

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l From: Marylee Slosson l To: JLB Date: 8/19/9611:38am

Subject:

Questions from Millstone Meeting i 1

We collected a number of questions at the Millstone Meeting. Some of which we answered and some that we didn't get to. We promised the Selectman Tony Sheridan that we would prepare written answers that could be distributed. We have grouped the questions by category and would like to have a response prepared. If possible, it would be ok to answer the grouped " question" as long as the issues are covered. We have the answers we put together for the Chairman prior to the trip and would be happy to share them with whoever gets this wonderful assignment. They should contact me, Brian or Annette for them. We would like to l get a response a soon as possible, but I think two weeks is reasonable.

l l will be happy to discuss this with you if you would like. Thanks CC: ave,beh 1

The Honorable Thomas A. Sheridan i First Selectman of Waterford 15 Rope Ferry Road l Waterford, Connecticut 06385-288.6 l

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l 9705020192 970424 EDO -- GT96632 l PDR COMMS NRCC CORRESPONDENCE PDR

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c Millstone Ouestions from Chairman's Auaust 6. 1996 Visit:

GROUP: ACCOUNTABILITY FOR NRC AND NU ACTIONS Why were all levels and limits exceeded in moving and storage of nuclear material and all procedures violated and nobody was suspended or fired because of serious violations?

Has anyone in the NRC been held accountable for the years of neglect at Millstone?

Who is being held accountable at the NRC for knowing and allowing risk for over 20 years every time a refueling was being conducted at Millstone? l Should NRC staff and Northeast Utilities (NU) employees be held accountable for disregard of regulations and other wrongdoing and pay some penalty?

When will you replace your oversight staff with officials who will enforce the regulations?

Why has the Chairman not removed more NRC management from their l positions, can we ever expect accountability?

i Why would NRC allow many of the NRC staff responsible for current situation at Millstone to oversee startup?

Will you require full accountability from Millstone for it's actions addressed in the petitions prior to restart of any Millstone unit?

i Will you require full accountability of your Region I staff prior to the restart of any Millstone unit?

Has NU management lied to the NRC? Can you take action against management for this? What action, and when will you take it?

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Will NRC personnel be held accountable for allowing Millstone to operate outside its design criteria from 1970 to 1995?

Why hasn't Millstone /NU been given any penalty for not following i NRC rules (other than being shut down.)

l Why doesn't the Congress have a committee to oversee the NRC and make sure they are accountable?

To whom is the NRC responsible?

. If it were shown that Mr. Russell's and Mr. Taylor's actions contributed to the decline of the NRC's ability to regulLte effectively or fairly with respect to public safety would you consider replacing them?

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GROUP: SHUTDOWN AND STARTUP ISSUES How can we trust that your staff will resolve the safety issues at the Millstone plants if you allow Connecticut Yankee to restart with "similar deficiencies" and "significant weaknesses?"

Will NRC demand full compliance to safety regulations before a startup plan is considered?

Is it true that although 1200 compliance issues have been identifiel at Millstone 3, you will accept resolution of 600 in a restart plan? l Are safety and compliance with 100% of the regulations the same thing, or can a plant be run safely while working to achieve full l

compliance - make a distinction between safety and compliance? l If it's true that the ultinate decision to open the plants lies l

with the NRC, what factors will influence this decision?

How can you consider the restart of any Millstone units without resolving the issues that put them there in the first place?

Are we resolving restart issues with on-going investigations; without the cause being determined?

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How can inspectors listen to a proposal for unit 3 restart '

without correcting all the compliance issues; didn't the 50.54 letters require that to be done?

l Will the plants be allowed to restart and operate with known l deficiencies?

1 l Will Unit 3 be allowed to restart with a FSAR that has not been updated and declared unsound by its own engineers?

Will the Connecticut reactors be kept off line until the FSARs '

are updated as required by law? ,

Will the NRC let Millstone restart when they're ready, or will it extract some undefined price?

Why, given the inherent danger of nuclear fuel and spent fuel, is i the NRC considering re-opening Connecticut's nuclear power plants?

GROUP: EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS ISSUES When will NU send me a radiation suit and radiation survival gear in case of a meltdown?

How do I obtain information on nuclear fallout shelters in Connecticut?

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Why are there no radiation monitors at schools?

How can the NRC continue to allow virtually no funds to be paid to protect the 26,000 residents of the City of New London when the risk to them is equal or greater than the Town of Waterford (which has 18,000 residents and gets millions in tax funds.)

GROUP: NU MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION ISSUES How can the area people feel secure with the same management at

! NU that got us to this point?

What oversight is NRC providing over the NU management " shuffle" as a corrective action?

l l What does the NRC feel is the survivability of NU during this l period of scrutiny of Millstone?

Do you feel the bond rating will improve if Fox and Busch were dismissed and NU were led by Mr. Miller?

l What is meant by Wayne ,Lanning's remark that Northeast Utilities l (NU) isn't addressing the root cause of its problems, and what l

can NU do about it?

GROUP: NRC ESTIMATION OF REACTOR SAFETY

, once on line, are Millstone units more likely to have a nuclear i accident than any other plant in the country?

In case of a nuclear accident, is there any reason to believe that the independent safety trains wouldn't be activated to bring ,

the plant to safe shutdown?

l l Has the NRC gotten more serious in its regulation of the other nuclear power plants in this country?

Aren't the problems at Millstone due to a decade of NRC oversight, and doesn't that implicate the safety of other plants across the country?

If the NRC relies heavily on information submitted by licensees regarding FSARs amendments etc, and licensee management cannot be trusted, how can the NRC depend on this source alone for critical decisions; and what alternatives are there to this process?

If units 1 and 2 remain shut down, who is responsible for safety of these plants, NRC or NU?

GROUP: NRC SUPPORT FOR MILLSTONE STARTUP Can you say anything good about Millstone?

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What can we do as a community to be supportive of Millstone's effort to get back on-line?

How will the NRC be supportive of those who want Millstone up and running? l l

When are you going to put a program in place that allows and i I

properly monitors safe operation of our area's nuclear plants and l generates the electricity our state needs?

What is NRC doing at Millstone to get these plants back in operational condition?

i Is Millstone doing what NRC asked to get the plants back on line?

What is the NRC doing to ensure the people of southeastern Connecticut will receive safe and reliable electricity from Connecticut's nuclear power plants?

GROUP: STATUS OF 2.206 Where is NRC on Galatis petition? How can it take so long?

Why hasn't NRC addressed the 2.206 petitions of Ross and Galatis and rendered a decision prior to the restart of any units at i Millstone? '

GROUP: LONG TELA STORAGE OF HIGH LEVEL WASTE l

How can the NRC allow the nuclear industry to continue producing such deadly material before the high level waste problem is resolved?

Is dry cask storage a possibility for disposal of spent fuel? If so, shouldn't the nuclear utilities be responsible for the cost?

What happened to the National Radioactive Waste Site?

Does the NRC endorse the Senate high level waste bill, and will it recommend House passage and presidential signing?

How much waste have you accumulated to date which you are unable to move?

Do you foresee a permanent nuclear waste facility being opened in the future, and if so how can we be assured the waste will get safely to the facility?

l Why do you think waste can be maintained safely if first generation information is not passed down properly?

Could we glass encase spent fuel pellets like the French do at the various sites?-Why not?

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GROUP: SPENT FUEL POOL SAFETY l

I Has the analysis of loss of spent fuel pool inventory mentioned '

on March 13 by Mr. Lanning been completed, and when will it be presented to the public? Will Part 100 requirements be addressed, and will these documents be available for public revies and comment prior to restart of the connecticut plants?

! Why isn't the spent fuel stored in safe containment buildings that would withstand an earthquake or other natural disasters or just wear and tear over the years?

l Are the other plants with spent fuel pool problems going to be

shutdown until they are fixed too, or is the significance minor - l l not affecting the safe running of the plant? Haven't these j plants been running safely for years now?

GROUP: SAFETY OF NUCLEAR POWER IN CONSIDERATION OF CHERNOBYL, TMI, AND THE RISK VERSUS NEED OF THE POWER SOURCE. l Is the NRC planning to close our 110 defective U.S. reactors l before or after a catastrophic accident occurs, as discussed by i l

Commissioner Asselstine in 1985? '

l l Is there any remote possibility that we could have a repeat of the Chernobyl disaster?

l If nuclear power is inherently dangerous as suggested by the l President's Commission on TMI, then is nuclear power acceptable j when it is not necessary?

Will NRC promote new nuclear power plants in the US, or oversee the ultimate shutdown of the nuclear power industry in our j country?

l How would you tell parents of Down's syndrome children from TMI l that nuclear power is safe?

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Why is nuclear energy still considered necessary to our state and country when alternate energy sources exist?

l Given uncertainties of nuclear power including high level waste l storage, decommissioning, economic future of the industry, and l effects of low level radiation, what is your vision for the role the NRC will play in the near and far future?

GROUP: NRC EVALUATION OF PROBLEMS AT MILLSTONE l

Why has it taken NRC so long to shut the Millstone reactors down?

Was the NRC lax or was appropriate discretion being exercised?

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l What does the NRC mean by a serious problem (i.e. a problem not l

" serious" enough to shut down Haddam Neck), are there serious problems at the Connecticut reactors, and if so what are they?

Will all three units come back on line and why?

How did we (public and NRC) get to this point?

GROUP: WHISTLEBLOWERS Has Northeast Utilities management harassed whistleblowers?

Has NRC supported whistleblowers?

l Why doesn't someone expose.the fact that whistleblowers make mountains out of molehills for profit?

Why have you allowed activists to glorify whistleblowers, belittle regulatory authority, question NRC independence and in essence dictate NRC actions?

Why are you allowing special interest groups to influence your decision on whether to keep the plants closed, and is that small group worth sacrificing the progress and good work done in the 1 area of nuclear energy?

Why have harassed workers not been returned to their positions?

i When will the NRC take some meaningful action to prevent this continued removal of persons raising safety concerns to the NRC, the medial and NU? .

l Why has the NRC not made more of an effort to protect whistleblowers?

Have you considered hiring Blanch, Delcore, Wilson, etc.?

GROUP: WATCH LIST How many plants have been put on the watch list?

How have they recovered having been put on the list?

Are their examples of previous problem plant list sites running better?

Will Connecticut reactors be put on the watch list after startup until they have demonstrated their ability to follow NRC regulations and requirements?

What event or events caused Millstone to go from a category 2 to a category 3 between January and June 1996?

GROUP: COMMUNICATIONS

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w Do you agree there appears to be a failure to communicate between the public and the nuclear-industrial complex, and would you be willing to staff a local Office of Ombudsman position?

Do you think it beneficial to set up a public library of all Millstone documents at the Connecticut College federal repository, or permit public access to all NRC documents via the internet?

Why isn't the public being given all information for restart, and equal time as NRC and Millstone to review those documents prior to the restart public meeting?

How will the Chairman demonstrate leadership in not allowing people afraid of technology to instill fear in communities?

Could the public be informed honestly about the amount and times l of low or higher radiation releases within the last ten years?

l GROUP: CORRECTIVE ACTIONS How do you propose to improve quality assurance relating to safe operation?

What steps have you taken to ensure that the NRC staff responsible for Millstone will quickly change their ways and put the safety of the public first?

( What does the NRC plan to do to address the fact that 40% of its own people are afraid to bring up safety issues?

What precautions are being taken to ensure this situation doesn't happen again?

What procedures have been implemented to prevent the lack of NRC oversight cited in the IG reports of 12/21/95 case # 95-771, 5/31/96 case # 96-025 and 7/23/96 case # 96-055?

What will the NRC do to demonstrate that the public can have ,

confidence? '

How soon will problems be corrected? j How do you propose to restoro faith in the NRC given that deregulation is putting more economic pressure on utilities, and the MRC in the past has responded more to the needs of the utilities than public safety?

GROUP: MISCELLANEOUS I

What is the background of NRC officials involved with safety concerns (engineers, scientists, technologists?)

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l Will the NRC continue to exerci:u. policy of " discretionary  !

l enforcement" with regard to uti.8, y oversight? l Is it a conflict of interest or collusion for former l Commissioners such as Dr. DePlanque to be a member of a utility i Board of Trustees?

What is the name and type of all radioactive gasses discharged at all U.S. reactors?

When will the nuclear tests begun in Nevada on June i.8,1996 be l Vented to atmosphere and who monitors?

When will the two Commissioner vacancies be filled?

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Why not hold meetings at more' proper times, say 7-7

30 so more

! employed people could attend?

I j G \SJMILQUE. MIL l l I

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