ML20199G129

Responds to Expressing Concerns Over Actions of NRC Re United States Enrichment Corp,Inc

ML20199G129
Person / Time
Site:	Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, 07007001
Issue date:	01/07/1999
From:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Lochbaum D, Nader R, Riccio J AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED, UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
Shared Package
ML20199G134	List: ML20199G129 ML20199G151
References
NUDOCS 9901220192
Download: ML20199G129 (3)

Text

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4 UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION  !

$ $ WASHINGTON. D.C. 20555-0001 L :j 8

\ . . . . . ,o January 7, 1999 CHAIRMAN

, l I

Mr. Ralph Nader P.O. Box 19312 l Washington, D.C. 20036 l

Dear Mr. Nader:

In your letter of September 15,1998, on safety at the United States Enrichment Corporation's (USEC) gaseous diffusion enrichment plants (GDPs), you asserted that the Commission failed to protect the public and the plants' workers, kept important information about these plants from j the public, and facilitated the defrauding of investors interested in purchasing the plants, all in  !

violation of our own regulations. Because of the serious nature of your assertions, upon l l

receiving your letter, I forwarded it to the Office of the inspector General (OlG) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commissior) (NRC). The OlG will forward its conclusions to you in a separate J

correspondence. While the OlG will address each of your concerns in detail, I would like to take this opportunity to address one of them.

The Commission has made extraordinary efforts to keep Congress and the public informed about conditions at the GDPs, the actions we have taken to ensure adeqwte protection of public health and safety at those plants, and the criteria we have been applying in our role in the Federal government's review of the privatization of the Corporation. Indeed your own letter is based on information you gathered from NRC documents, which have been made public in a timely way and which are retrievable from both the Public Document Room and the NRC worldwide web site. NRC oversight of GDPs has resulted in management meetings with USEC, which were announced and open to the public, and in civil penalties, accompanied with press releases, according to NRC policy. The Commission has in no way wavered from its l commitment to openness in regulatory matters involving the GDPs and other regulated l facilities. I Thank you for your interest in this matter. Should you have questions regarding the OlG response to your detailed concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

1 Sincerely, l I

f '

Shirley Ann Jackson 9901220192 990107 PDR COMMS NRCC CORRESPONDENCE PDR 2000.20 J

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0* '%)h UNITED STATES NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g WASHINGTON. D.C. 2055A001 January 7, 1999 CHAIRMAN Mr. David Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer Union of Concerned Scientists 1616 P Street, NW, Suite 310 Washington, D.C. 20003

Dear Mr. Lochbaum:

1 in your letter of September 15,1998, on safety at the United States Enrichment Corporation's l (USEC) gaseous diffusion enrichment plants (GDPs), you asserted that the Commission failed to protect the public and the plants' workers, kept important information about these plants from l the public, and facilitated the defrauding of investors interested in purchasing the plants, all in violation of our own regulations. Because of the serious nature of your assertions, upon receiving your letter, I forwarded it to the Office of the Inspector General (OlG) of the Nuclear '

Regulatory Commission (NRC). The OlG will forward its conclusions to you in a separate correspondence. While the OlG will address each of your concerns in detail, I would like to take this opportunity to address one of them. l l

The Commission has made extraordinary efforts to keep Congress and the public informed about conditions at the GDPs, the actions we have taken to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety at those plants, and the criteria we have been applying in our role in the Federal government's review of the privatization of the Corporation. Indeed your own letter is based on information you gathered from NRC documents, which have been made public in a timely way and which are retrievable from both the Public Document Room and the NRC worldwide web site. NRC oversight of GDPs has resulted in management meetings with USEC, which were announced and open to the public, and in civil penalties, accompanied with press releases, according to NRC policy. The Commission has in no way wavered from its commitment to openness in regulatory matters involving the GDPs and other regulated facilities.

Thank you for your interest in this matter. Should you have questions regarding the OlG response to your detailed concerns, pleasc do nct hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, l

Shirley Ann Jackson l

l l

r

1. UNITED STATES l- #- k NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20555-0001 l g e

% ,,,,, / Janu ary 7,1999 CHAIRMAN l

l Mr. Jim Riccio Staff Attorney, Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy Project 215 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE l

Washington, D.C. 20003 l

Dear Mr. Ricco:

In your letter of September 15,1998, on safety at the United States Enrichment Corporation's l

(USEC) gaseous diffusion enrichment plants (GDPs), you asserted that the Commission failed to protect the public and the plants' workers, kept important information about these plants from the public, and facilitated the defrauding of investors interested in purchasing the plants, all in violation of our own regulations. Because of the serious nature of your assertions, upon receiving your letter, I forwarded it to the Office of the inspector General (OlG) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).1he OlG will forward its conclusions to you in a separate l correspondence. While the OlG will address each of your concerns in detail, I wo'Jld like to take this opportunity to address one of them.

The Commission has made extraordinary efforts to keep Congress and the public informed about conditions at the GDPs, the actions we have taken to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety at those plants, and the criteria we have been applying in our role in l

the Federal government's review of the privatization of the Corporation. Indeed your own letter

! is based on information you gathered from NRC documents, which have been made public in a timely way and which are retrievable from both the Public Document Room and the NRC worldwide web site. NRC oversight of GDPs has resulted in management meetings with USEC, which were announced and open to the public, and in civil penalties, accompanied with press releases, according to NRC policy. The Commission has in no way wavered from its commitment to openness in regulatory matters involving the GDPs and other regulated facilities.

Thank you for your interest in this matter. Should you have questions regarding the OlG response to your detailed concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, g{~ C '

Shirley Ann Jackson i

l

!