ML20148K652

Denies 880324 Request for Emergency Relief.Remainder of Request Will Be Treated as Petition for Enforcement Action Under 10CFR2.206 & Will Issue Director'S Decision Shortly. Ltr Raised No New Issues Not Already Considered by NRC

ML20148K652
Person / Time
Site:	Sequoyah
Issue date:	03/28/1988
From:	Ebneter S NRC OFFICE OF SPECIAL PROJECTS
To:	Bates A NATURAL RIGHTS CENTER
References
2.206, NUDOCS 8803310263
Download: ML20148K652 (3)

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1. p.m"k UNITED STATES

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l NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHING TON, D. C. 20555

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l MAR 2 81988 l Mr. Albert K. Bates The Natural Rights Center l l

156 Drakes Lane P.O. Box 90 Surinertown, Tennessee 38483-0090 Dear Sir-l Your petition for emergency relief dated Thursday, March 24, 1988 has been 1 referred to me for reply. The Office of Special Projects has jurisdiction over the nuclear program of the Tennessee Valley Authority ("TVA"),

including the Sequoyah facility. I have decided to deny your request for emergency relief for the reasons stated below. The staff will treat the remainder of your request (the request for relief on the technical issues as opposed to the request for emergency relief) as a petition for enforcement action under 10 CFR 2.206 and will issue a Director's Decision shortly. ,

As you are aware, the Comission voted unanimously on Tuesday, March 22, 1988, to authorize the Office of Special Projects to allow TVA to restart Unit 2 at the Sequoyah facility when the staff was satisfied that TVA had completed certain specified projects which the staff had designated as l "restart items." The Comission based its decision on the staff's extensive reviews of TVA's programs at Sequoyah.

Among the items addressed by the NRC staff during its review of the TVA i programs were allegations concerning the adequacy of the emergency diesel I generators. As you noted in your petition, several of these issues were raised by Mr. Dallas Hicks. As you also noted, the staff addressed these issues in one of the papers before the Comission (SECY-88-82) when it voted on March 22. The staff also addressed this issue in a Safety Evaluation Report ("SER") issued on Friday, March 25, 1988. I have i enclosed a copy for your convenience. The SER addresses the diesel l generator issues in Section 2.3.3.2.1, Auxiliary Power System, Paragraph (4) "Diesel Generator (DG) Load Analysis," found at pages 2-23 to 2-28.

I have also enclosed a copy of a letter to the NRC's technical staff from the NRC consultants who reviewed the allegations raised by Mr. Hicks in his letter of March 10, 1988. As described in the SER and based upon its I consultants' review, the staff concluded that the Sequoyah diesel generators i are adequate to support the restart of Sequoyah Unit 2. I 1

I would note in passing that contrary to your apparent belief, failure to l comply with a Regulatory Guide does not, in and of itself, indicate that i the system to which the Guide applies does not meet NRC requirements.

Regulatory Guides provide one means to meet NRC requirements, i.e. one is l 1

88 3310263 880328 ADOCK 05000327 M

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presumptively in compliance if one meets the Regulatory Guides. However, a licensee may demonstrate that it meets NRC requirements by other means if it chooses to do so. See e.o. , Vemont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation, CLI-74-40, 8 AEC 809, 811T9747T Porter County Chapter of Izaak Walton League v. Atomic Energy Commission, 533 F.2d 1011, 1016 (7th Cir. 1976).

Your letter raises no new issues not already considered by the NRC staff.

Therefore, I have determined that your request for emergency relief should be denied. TVA will begin restart activities when the staff has determined that it has completed all other restart items. That condition may occur as early as today, Monday, March 28, 1988. As discussed above, your technical concerns will be addressed in more detail in a Director's Decision under 10 CFR 2.206 to be issued shortly.

Sincerely, Stewart D. Ebneter, Director Office of Special Projects

Enclosures:

As Stated DISTRIBUTION

.. Docket File NRC & Local PDRs Projects Reading S. Ebneter/J. Axelrad S. Richardson G. Zech B. D. Liaw K. Barr B. Hayes Licensing Assistant ,

Project Manager 0GC  !

J. Rutberg l F. Miraglia  ;

E. Jordan i J. Partlow '

l ACRS(10)

TVA-Bethesda OSP Reading j

• see previous concurrence l

l OFC :ADTP:TVA:05P ADTP:TVA:05P A/D:TVA:05P :DD:05P :0GC :D:05P  :

NAME :EMarinos * :BDLiaw * :SRichardson*:JAxelrad :LChandler :SEbneter  :

DATE :03/28/GS :03/28/88 :03/28/88 :03/ /88 :03/ /88 :03/ /88  :

0FFICIAL RECORD COPY l 1

e presumptively in compliance if one meets the Regulatory Guides. However, a licensee may demonstrate that it meets NRC requirements by other means if it chooses to do so. See e.a., Vemont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation, CLI 74-40, 8 AEC 809, 811 Tf9NTi Porter County Chapter of Izaak Walton League v. Atomic Energy Comission, 533 F.2d 1011,1016 (7th Cir.1976).

Your letter raises no new issues not already considered by the NRC staff.

Therefore, I have determined that your request for emergency relief should be denied. TVA will begin restart activities when the staff has detemined that it has completed all other restart items. That condition may occur as early as today, Monday, March 28, 1988. As discussed above, your technical concerns will be addressed in more detail in a Director's Decision under 10 CFR 2.206 to be issued shortly.

Sincerely,

% Sig e l By Jane A. Axeltsd Stewart D. Ebneter, Director Office of Special Projects

Enclosures:

As Stated

• see previous concurrence

~

OFC :ADTP:TVA:0SP ADTP:TVA:0SP A/D:TVA:0SP : (05 , :0GC NAME :EMarinos * :BOLiaw * :SRichardson*:J rad :LChandler 9: net  :

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DATE :03/28/88 :03/28/88 :03/28/88 :03/ M 88 :03/J@88 :03/8/88  :

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