ML20197J408
| ML20197J408 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 03/28/1985 |
| From: | Lieberman J NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE LEGAL DIRECTOR (OELD) |
| To: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20197E896 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-86-20, FOIA-86-A-47 DD-84-06, DD-84-6, NUDOCS 8504090340 | |
| Download: ML20197J408 (5) | |
Text
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- U I t) ,- March 28,1985 MEMORANDUM FOR: Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation FROM: James Lieberman Director and Chief Counsel Regional Operations and Enforcement OELD -
SUBJECT:
REQUEST FOR ACTION FROM DR. ZIN0VY REYTBLATT REGARDING CONTAINMENT LEAK RATE TESTING The enclosed letters dated March 6 and March 8,1985, to you from Dr. Zinovy Reytblatt continues Dr. Reytblatt's dialogue with the staff on the sufficiency of containment leak rate testing at nuclear power plants. The March 6th letter asserts that the staff improperly refused to take action in response to Dr. Reytblatt's January 9,1985 letter to Tom Rehm. Dr. Reytblatt also criticizes your March 1984 decision (DD-84-6, 19 NRC 891) related to contain-ment leak-rate testing. In his March 8th letter, Dr. Reytblatt. renews his s complaints about the staff's response to his January letter. The January letter was responded to under Tom Rehm's signature and was not treated as a 9 2.206 request. In his latest letters to you, however, Dr. Reytblatt invokes 10 CFR 2.206 in " appealing" to you with respect to the staff's fail-ure, to act favorably on his January letter. ;
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I have enclosed a draft acknowledgement letter and Federal Register notice.
Since parts of Dr. Reytblatt's letters are in effect F0IA requests,or complaints about staff conduct, I have referred copies of his letters to the F0IA branch and OIA. Before issuing the letter and Federal Register notice and proceeding too far down the 5 2.206 path, it may be appropriate for us to
- , meet with you or your staff in deciding the best way to handle Dr. Reytblatt's letters. Please have your staff contact on this matter arrange with my office for a meeting.
James Lieberman Director and Chief Counsel Regional Operations and Enforcement Office of the Executive Legal Director-
Enclosures:
- 'DISTRIBU ION -
(1) Reytblatt letters ELD Rdr~
dtd 3/6/85 and 3/8/85 M Subject (P-85-4)
(2) Draft Letter and Notice Reading Burns chron Lieberman chron CONTACT: Stephen G. Burns, OELD
- Cuoco info X27268 Cunningham/Murray gg 2.206 shron 4.h See next page for cc's -,: d : E. Christenbury cg5040*/o 3YO Xf- h E90
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G. Arndt, RES T. Novak, NRR J. Lyons, NRR T. Rehm EDO J. Keppler, RIII
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- Dr. Zinovy V. Reytblatt Dept. of Mathematics
- & Computer Science i Warren Wilson College 1 701 Warren Wilson Road 1 Swannanoa, North Carolina 28778-2099
Dear Dr. Reytblatt:
j This letter acknowledges receipt of your letters to me dated March 6 and i i
! March 8, 1985, in which you asked, pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206, that I take a 1
) number of actions with respect to containment leak-rate testing. Among ;
i~ other things, you assert that the staff improperly refused to take action on
] your January 9,1985 letter to Mr. Rehm. Your January 9th letter was not treated as a request for action under 10 CFR 2.206, because it was not ad-dressed to an NRC official empowered to act on such requests and was not i clearly delineated as a i 2.206 request. Your March 6th and 8th letters
, will be handled pursuant to 10 CFR 2'.206, and, accordingly, appropriate 4
! action will be taken on your requests for relief within a reasonable time.
l~* While the staff will give careful consideration to the issues raised in '
I your letters, I decline to take the immediate action you request for the .
- reasons communicated to you in Mr. Rehm's letter. -
Your letters also ask for the production of documents under the Freedom of Information Act. Copies of your letters have been referred to our FOIA l
- Branch for processing. In the future, if you intend to make written i
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requests for information, your requests should be addressed to the Director, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555, as provided in 10 CFR 9.8(a).
Your March 6th letter requests an investigation of the performance of certain NRC personnel. Such a request is outside the scope of actions contemplated by 10 CFR 2.206; however, a copy of your letter has been provided to the NRC's Office of Inspector and Auditor for whatever action it deems appro-priate.
g- A-copy ~of a notice that is being filed for publication with the Office of '
the Federal Register is enclosed for your information. .'
Sincerely, Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactdr Regulation
Enclosure:
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[7590-01]
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION RECEIPT OF REQUEST FOR ACTION UNDER 10 CFR 2.206 CONCERNING INTEGRATED LEAK-RATE TESTING Notice is hereby given that by letters dated March 6 and 8,1985, Dr. Zinovy V. Reytblatt of Swannanoa, North Carolina., has requested that the.
Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation take a number of actions with respect to integrated containment leak-rate testing conducted at reactor facilities in accordance with Appendix J to 10 CFR Part 50. Specifically, Dr. Reytblatt requests that integrated l_eak-rate testing be suspended until "scientif.ically ,
I~ sou'nd" methods of determination and verification of weight coefficients are developed, that a certain gas mass equation not be used, and that a computer program for processing leak-rate data not be used until reprogrammed and re-validated. Dr. Reytblatt's requests are being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 and, accordingly, appropriate action will be taken on the requests within a reasonable time.
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Copies of Dr. Reytblatt's letters are available for public inspection in the Commission's Pub'ic Document Room at 1717 H Street, N.W., Washingtons-D.C. 20555. -
Dated at Bethesda, Maryland, this day of April 1985.
FOR THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COPrlISSION Harold R. Denton, Director
, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation i
.