ML20206B691

Requests Info on TMI Fuels for Constituent

ML20206B691
Person / Time
Site:	Three Mile Island
Issue date:	03/05/1987
From:	Specter A SENATE
To:	NRC
Shared Package
ML20206B687	List: ML20206B682 ML20206B691
References
NUDOCS 8704100016
Download: ML20206B691 (23)

Text

• COMMITTEES ARL2N SPECTER AppIO[lA W ENNSYLV ANI A IONS VE TE.1ANS*AFF AIRS INTELLIGENCE

'2]Cnileb Slales Senale W AS H INGTON. D.C. 20500 March 5, 1987 Congressional Liaison Nuclear Regulatory Commission .

1717 H Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Gentlemen:

My office has been contacted by John Buffington regarding T. M. I. fuels. I am forwarding to you a copy of the correspondence that I have received.

Your findings and views, in duplicate form, along with the return of the enclosure, will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance with the aforementioned matter.

incerel Arlen ecter AS/jbm Enclosure 1

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APR 0 619g7 The Honorable Arlen Specter United States Senate '

Washington, D.C. 20510 Pear Senator Specter:

This letter is in response to your letter of March 5,1987 regarding concerns of one nf your constituents, John Buffington, about the operation of Three Mile Island Unit 1 (TMI-1). In particular, Mr. Buffington expressed concern about public exposure to releases of radioactive materials from the plant.

With regard to public exposure to releases of radioactive materials from commercial nuclear reactor power plants, all plants, including TMI-1, are required by Nuclear Reculatory Commission (NRC) regulations to keep releases of radioactive materials to the offsite environment "as low as is reasonably achievable." The NPC requirements to maintain plant radioactive material releases "as low as is reasonably achievable" are embodied as operating limits and conditions of the license issued to General Public Utilities Nuclear Corporation (GPUN, the TMI-I licensee) which authorizes operation of TMI-1.

The purpose of these operating license limits and conditions on radioactive material releases is to protect the health and safety of the public. The operating license limits and conditions on radioactive plant effluents are established such that any resultant public exposure to radioactive materials would result in doses which are no more than a small fraction of the exposure the public receives from normal background radiation (approximately 100

• mrem / year in the Harrisburg area). These operating limits and conditions on radioactive plant effluents effectively implement the philosophy that an operating nuclear power plant should have a negligible impact on the surrounding environment and is operated such that the health and safety of the public is adeouately protected.

With regard to the releases of radioactive effluents from TMI-1, the reactor plant was restarted for resumption of commercial operation in October 1985 and all releases to date of radioactive materials in liquid and gaseous effluents to the offsite environment have been well within the limits and conditions imposed on such releases by the operating license.

In addition to the continuous in-plant monitoring of all points of release of radioactive material effluents to ensure compliance with the license linits and conditions on such effluents, all nuclear power reactor plants must have established radiological environmental monitoring programs to monitor ard record radiation levels in the offsite environs. For your information, a description of the radiological environmental monitoring for Three Mile Island

The Honorable Arlen Specter ,

is enclosed. Note that the GPUN system includes 16 real-time gamma radiation monitoring stations, four of which are accessible to the public.

As you I trust this information is responsive to your constituent's concerns.

requested, we are also returnino the correspondence from Fr. Buffincton.

Sincerely, '

Ngntd) T. A. Rehm ictor Stello, Jr.

Executive Director for Operations

Enclosures:

1. GPU Nuclear News Pelease dated June 6, 1985

2. Letter to Senator Specter from John Buffington dated December 1, 1986 i

See previous concurrences.* i PWR#6 b D: / 0 R PWP#6 PWR#6 zek PWR#6 RIngram* JThoma*;eh RWeller* JStolz* FM .lia 3/3/87 3/3/87 f /87 4///87 3/31/87 3/31/87 OCA ED0 D/t VStello HDe on

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- Nows Rolaasci gg Three Mile Island Nuclear Station Pos: OSce Box 480 Midd etown. PA 17057 Public information Services 717 948-8197 For Funher information Contact Doug Bedell, Gordon Tomb, Lisa Robinson Date: June 6, 1985 For Reiease Immediately THREE MILE ISLAND MONITORING OF RADI0 ACTIVE RELEASES Strict regulations cover maximum allowable releases of radioactive level s.

material f rom nuclear power plants and limit them to very low Regulations also require extensive monitoring and reporting of all r and corrective action if limits are approached.

Monitoring at the plant includes Monitoring starts at the plant itself.

Those points are continuously all liquid and gaseous release points.

There are alarms to alert the operators to take action if readings monitored.

in:rease significantly or approach conservative limits.

Beyond the plant itself, GPU Nuclear Corporation has a state-of-the a radiological environmental monitoring program in place around Three M Island to detect and assess any possible environmental effects from This monitoring program is designed to radioactive releases at the plant.

meet several objectives -- chief among them are to:

1. Detect the presence of radioactive materials in the environment througn sampling. This reveals the presence of natural as well as ma radioattive materials in the environment.

2. Detect any changes in radiation levels in the environment and help ascertain whether they are due to natural, TMI, or other man-made c finally,

3. Verify that any radioactive releases resulting from operations at TA are kept as low as possible and consistent with regulatory limits, thereby

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Monitoring -- 2 supporting efforts to insure that plant operations are having no detrimental effect on the envimnment or public health and safety.

Environmental samples are collected from the land, water and air around These samples include cow and goat milk, f ruits, Three Mile Island.

vegetables and soil, Susquehanna River water, community drinking water, aquatic plants, fish and river sediments from the water enviroment; and finally, particulate, iodine and noble gas samples from the air around the ihree Mile Island site. During 1984, over 3,500 samples were obtained from Those samples were then subjected to over 5,400 the environment around TMI.

I analyses. Results for 1984 showed no reactor-related material detected in the environment . Monitoring since 1980 shows that all releases were low and within regulatory limits.

GPU Nuclear has 15 employees (11 professionals) dedicated to environmental monitoring at Three Mile Island. During 1984, GPU Nuclear spent 4 almost 51 million to operate and maintain its radiological environmental monitoring program at TMI.

Gamma radiation is measured in the environment by two independent systems. One is a network of themoluminescent dosimeters, or TLD's, i

stationed at 88 locations up to a radial distance of 21 miles from the site.

The TLD's are collected and the actual radiation exposure is detemined each quarter, or more frequently if there is any reason for doing so.

In addition, in 1981 GPU Nuclear installed a state-of-the art real-time gamma radiation monitoring network around TMI. This network consists of 16 stations that provide instantaneous readings of radiation levels at each 1:

l site. The readings from four sites that are accessibie to the public are i

available to anyone who visits those locations. They are: the TMI Observation Center; the electrical substations on Mill Street in Middletown, off of Route

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local government agencies have tied into this system and receive th all the stations at the same time GPU Nuclear does.

GPU Nuclear anticipates very few, if any, gamma dose rates significa 4

I greater than background during the startup and subsequent full p This is based on data that was obtained in the of Three Mile Island Unit 1.

environment during operations prior ,to 1979 During the TMI-l power ascension program and subsequent full power operation, GPU Nuclear's radiological enviromnental monitoring pro utilized to ensure that the company's procedures for controlling release radioactivity are effective in protecting the environment and public healtn and safety. GPU Nuclear reports its monitoring resulti to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. i In addition, each Thursday in The Patriot-News, Harrisburg, GPU Nuclea publishes the averaged ranges of readings from its offsite real-time ganna monitoring stations for each day in the preceeding week.

In addition to GPU Nuclear's monitoring program, monitoring is also conducted by the following agencies, with the results available to the pub U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Three Mile Island Field Office 100 Brown St.

Middletown, PA 17057 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Ozmnission The State Library of Pennsylvania The Forum Building Commonwealth Avenue and Walnut St.

P.O. Box 1601 Harrisburg, PA 17105 Pennsylvania Bureau of Radiation Protection Department of Environmental Resources Box 2063 Harrisburg, PA 17120

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• JUDIClOQU hLENSPECTER APPCOPQl&TIONS PENNSYLDANIA VEVECANS'AFFAlCS INTELLIGENCE 3Cnifeb Sfales Senate W AS H INGTON. D.C. 20510 l

l March 5, 1987  !

Congressional Liaison Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1717 H Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Gentlemen:

My office has been contacted by John Buffington regarding T. M. I . fuels. I am forwarding to you a copy of the correspondence that I have received.

Your findings and views, in duplicate form, along with the return of the enclosure, will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance with the aforementioned matter.

incerel Arlen ecter AS/jbm Enclosure I

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OCA FOR SIGNATURE OF: ** GREEN ** SECY NO: 87-279 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR DESC: ROUTING:

ENCLOSES LETTER FROM JOHN BUFFINGTON RE TMI MURLEY, DATE: 03/20/87 ASSIGNED TO: NRR CONTACT: DENTON SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS OR REMARKS:

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INTELLIGENCE

'21Cnifeb Slales Senale WASHINGTON. D.C. 20S00 March 5, 1987 Congressional Liaison Nuclear Regulatory Commission 1717 H Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Gentlemen:

My office has been contacted by John Buffington regarding T. M. I. fuels. I am forwarding to you a copy of the correspondence that I have received.

Your findings and views, in duplicate form, along with the return of the enclosure, will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your assistance with the aforementioned matter.

. incerel Arlen ecter AS/jbm Enclosure

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