ML20199A616
| ML20199A616 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 11/20/1997 |
| From: | Joffe A AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20199A589 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9801280037 | |
| Download: ML20199A616 (2) | |
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-November 20, 1997 Nuclear.Re9ulotory Commiss1on
,11545 Rockville Pika Rockville Moryland 20852 Attention Commissioner Shirley A'. Jackson Re the enclosed:
I' cal sorely perplexed as to.Whyuthe conditions described Mere not'
-found by the NRC Inspectors.
.I live in the Three-Mile isiond State and-
.it'doeslSeem thot Moine yonkee Hos a prime condidatenfor o disaster
.woltin9?to happen.
I realize that any collection of inspectors con rangeL rom'the' f
conscientious toithe "so Mhat* Variety of humanity.
HoMever true that
- may be,lo member of:UCS, David Lochbaum's e^~clusion that the Yankee plant operators-had been " cutting corners
- years" is ominous.
Why did it have to~take o David Lochbaum to call attention to the oppurent fact that many nucleariplants have NOT been updating their Final Safety Analysis reports?
I find a statement in the article that reads....We then knoM hoM-to proceed-in a Hoy that makes it impossible for the company OR the NRC to sweep allegations under the rug......end of quote.
Evidently the IRS is not the ONLY 09en_, badly in need of 9avernment oversi9ht hearings.
Wolle I connot envision on income tax returnrrendering lor 9e arcos of real estate into o nuclear nightmare and killing thousands of people.in the process, it does not. toke much
- 1mosination to envision Nhat could happen if a company orf the NRC " sweeps alle9ations under-the rug".-
I never did find out Hhat transpired when.
the Department of Justice alle9edly investigated the incidents described.
It is also ;J bit odd that I could not find any record of-fines that your 09ency 1s empOHered tu levy, ever seeing'the li9ht of day.
M Allan S. Joffe
-1005 Twinin9 Road Dresher po. 19025 enc: _
PS:JPerhaps-the' Senators that are to receive copies of this information
= con 9enerate a -bit;of, ins 19ht-on the.NRC foiling to honor its mandate as
-so nobly inscribed on.your Heb site.
t 9901290037 990116 PDR ADOCK 05000309 H
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" Chain Reaction Following the permanent shutdown of the unsafe Yankee Rowe and Trojan nuclear plants, the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant has closed as a result of UCS's work to publicize safety violations.
by Wanrn Leon Sometimes, a small stimulus can control pracpices at a company start a chain reaction that produces a T
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that performs safety analyses and very dramatic result. In late 1995, Bob 1m engineering work for Maine Yan-l kee and a number of other
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'yh nuclear plants. Finally, in August Ibilard, UCS's nuclear <.afety engineer
- y at the time, received a packags of 4
documents from an anonymous Maine Yankee's owners announced source alleging serious safety prob-plans to decommission the plant.
lems at the Maine Yankee nuclear More generally, over the past power plant. The whistleblower year, Lochbaum has used the daimed that, in an especially serious Maine Yankee case to bring NRC violation ofsafe operating produres, attention to the fact that many Maine Yankee had falsified the safety nuclear plants have not been analyses that allowed the plant to in-updating their Final Safety crease its maximum power output by Analysis Reports.
10 percent.
The chain ofevents demonstrates the After reviewing the documents, Ibilard alleged wrongdoing. In December important role UCS plays as watch-concluded that the anonymous 1996, the plant dosed for mainte-dog of the nudear industry. Because l
whisdeblower was an insider with ex-nance and resolution ofits safety of our credibility and technical tensive knowledge of the plant. So Ib!-
problems.
knowledge, whistleblo. vers feel that lard passed on the information in a way we are the right orgamtation to re-that brought the allegations to public Then, this May, Maine Yanlice's ceive sensitive materials that desene attention and put pressure on the owners announced thu they would public attention.We then know how l
Nuclear Regulatory Commission keep the plant dosed permanently. to proceed in a way that makes it (NRC) to follow up.
As David Lochbaum (who joined impossible for the company or the 3
UCS as nudear safety engineer after NRC to sweep the allegations under In response, the NRC quickly re.
Ibilard retired) observed, "The own-the rug. David Lochbaum, along j
duced Maine Yankee's power level ers conduded thatit would have cost with UCS Press Secretary Rich Hayes by 10 percent pending resolution of too much to make the plant safe and Media Assistant Susan l
an investigation into the aliegations, enough to operate. Maine Yankee McDowell, effectively kept the prob-More important, once the NRC staff finally had to face the consequences lems at Maine Yankee in the public f
started to investigate the plant, they ofyears ofcutting comers."
cye. UCS will continue to work hard began to discover a whole series of to uncover safetyproblems at nudcar safety problems that had gone uncor-But the story doesn't end there. A few power plants and to push the rected for years. A special NRC in-days later, UCS received a package of Nudear Regulatory Commission to spection during the summer of 1996 materials from another whistleblower protect public safety. N culminated in Maine Yankee being seeraing to point out additional n h UC9 deputydirector anm cited for 16 violations of safety regu-safety violations et Maine Yankee.
f l
!ations. In addition, the Department lechbaum was able to instigate an ofJustice also began investigating the NRC investigation of the quality Nucleus Fall 1997
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