ML20210E508
| ML20210E508 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 02/06/1987 |
| From: | Brann P MAINE, STATE OF |
| To: | Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel |
| References | |
| CON-#187-2464 OL, NUDOCS 8702100315 | |
| Download: ML20210E508 (10) | |
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DOLKETED NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION UPPC
'87 FEB -9 P2 :07 BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD CFFi< n In the Matter of:
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DOCGi e
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Docket Nos.50-44i'OL PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
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50-444 OL NEW HAMPSHIRE, ~~ --et al.
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Off-Site Emergency Planning (Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2)
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and Safety Issues STATE OF MAINE'S MEMORANDUM IN OPPOSITION TO APPLICANTS' PETITION TO REDUCE THE EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONE The applicants have filed a petition to reduce the emergency planning zone from ten miles to one mile in the above-captioned matter.
The State of Maine submits this memorandum in opposition to that petition.
ARGUMENT The applicants' petition for a " waiver" of the Commission of the rule establishing a ten mile emergency planning zone, 10 C.F.R.
S 50.47 (1986), is nothing more than a generic, frontal attack upon a duly promulgated Commission rule.
That attack is both mistaken 8702100315 870206 PDR ADOCK 05000443 0
pop
. and misdirected.I!
In order to obtain a waiver, the applicants must demonstrate that there are "special circumstances" concerning Seabrook.
See 10 C.F.R. S 2.758(b) (1986).
The applicants' petition belies their contention that there is something "special" about Seabrook.
On the contrary, their petition, stripped to its essence, is nothing more than a claim that nuclear technology in general has advanced since Three Mile Island and therefore the emergency planning zone should be reduced.
Although that contention is almost certainly wrong, it is a contention that should be tested in a rulemaking proceeding, and made applicable to the entire nuclear industry.
The Commission is currently considering two petitions for rulemaking that propose to amend section 50.47 and thereby establish the proper size of the emergency planning zone.
See 51 Fed. Reg.
35,518 (Oct.
6, 1986) (the Sexton petition); 51 Fed. Reg. 47,025-26 (Dec. 30, 1986) (the Maine petition).
If the applicants believe i
that the emergency planning zone requirements should be eviscerated, they should take their case to the Commission.
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Maine concurs wholeheartedly with the previous submissions of l
the intervenors and other interested participants, see generally l
Massachusetts' Memorandum dated Jan. 26, 1987, and NECNP's l
Memorandum dated Feb.
2, 1987, and therefore adopts by reference l
their contention that the petition should also be rejected out-of-hand because: (1) the timetable and procedures adopted by the l
Board to evaluate the applicants' petition are fundamentally unfair l
and antithetical to the notion of proper administrative procedure l
and due process; (2) the proposed standard by which the applicants' petition should be evaluated is pure ipse dixit; and (3) the applicants have failed completely to satisfy the standard for a waiver under 10 C.F.R. S 2.758(b) (1986).
. In order to obtain a waiver, the applicants must also demonstrate that application of the rule establishing the ten mile emergency planning zone to Seabrook would not " serve the purposes" for which that rule was adopted.
See 10 C.F.R. S 2.758(b) (1986).
The applicants' petition makes clear that they do not understand all of the purposes for which the ten mile zone was originally established.
On the contrary, when those purposes are examined, it becomes clear that the zone should be expanded, not contracted.
As the submissions from the other intervenors and interested participants make clear, prior to 1979 little thought was given to emergency planning because it was considered unlikely that an accident could occur.
In 1979 that assumption was shattered by Three Mile Island.
In response to that accident, and based upon studies commissioned as a result of that accident, the Commission promulgated the current rule.
See Fed. Reg. 55403 (Aug. 19, 1980)
(Statement of Considerations).
Section 50.47 was promulgated to address both the radiological and non-radiological consequences of any future accident.
Id.
Since 1980, a ten mile emergency planning l
zone has been thought adequate to address the consequences of any accident, irrespective of the type, location, or size of the nuclear plant in question.
In 1986, the adequacy of a ten mile emergency planning zone was called into question with the occurrence of the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, in which 135,000 people were evacuated within a 19-mile radius of the plant.
See 51. Fed. Reg. 47026 (Dec. 30, 1986) (the Maine petition).
Although the parallels between the Soviet and American nuclear industries are currently being debated, the proper
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forun for that debate is the Commission, which, once again, is considering the appropriate size of the emergency planning zone based upon the radiological and non-radiological consequences of an accident previously thought to be unthinkable.
The foregoing demonstrates why the applicants' myopic focus on the likelihood of an accident and the radiological consequences of such an accident misses the point.
The emergency planning zone was established to protect people from all of the consequences of a nuclear accident, however unlikely the nuclear industry believes that to be.
Under such circumstances, the applicants' arguments should be directed to the Commission in the on-going rulemaking proceedings, and their petition for a waiver of the current regulations should be denied by this Board.
CONCLUSION Based upon the foregoing, the State of Maine respectfully requests that the applicants' petition to reduce the emergency planning zone be denied.
Dated:
February 6, 1987 Respectfully submitted, Augusta, Maine JAMES E. TIERNEY Attorney General k-b b M PETER J. BRANN Assistant Attorney General State House Station 6 Augusta, ME 04333 (207) 289-3661 Attorneys for State of Maine
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA DCUL IEI NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION l'M
'87 FEB -9 P2 :07 BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Crik o seu In the Matter of:
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00CXa m a Jav.u.
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Docket Nos. 50 I4IJOL l
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
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50-444 OL NEW HAMPSHIRE, ~~et al.
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~~
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Off-Site Emergency Planning (Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2)
)
and Safety Issues NOTICE OF APPEARANCE Pursuant to 10 C.F.R.
S 2.713(b) (1986), the undersigned attorney files this notice of appearance:
i Name and Address:
Peter J. Brann Assistant Attorney General State House Station 6 Augusta, Maine 04333 (207) 289-3661 Admissions:
Maine and Massachusetts (state and federal courts)
Party Represented:
State of Maine (same address)
Dated: February 6, 1987 ka 7. dhl40 V1 Augusta, Maine PETER J. BRANN Assistant Attorney General State House Station 6 Augusta, Maine 04333 (207) 289-3661 Attorney for State of Maine
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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA C0CKETED NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION USNRC
'8 FEB -9 P2 :07 BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD CTFL u In the Matter of:
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00C W $;( ' M,_
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Docket Nos. 50-443'OL.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
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50-444 OL NEW HAMPSHIRE, et al.
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Off-Site Emergency Planning (Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2)
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and Safety Issues a
CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I am counsel for Interested State, State of Maine, and I certify that on February 6, 1987, I served copies of the foregoing State of Maine's Memorandum In Opposition to Applicant's Petition to Reduce the Emergency Planning Zone and the foregoing Notice of Appearance by mailing copies by first class mail, postage prepaid, or, as indicated by an asterisk, by Express Mail, addressed as follows:
- Helen Hoyt, Esq., Chairman l
Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission East West Towers Bldg., 4th Floor 4350 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814
- Dr. Jerry Harbour Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
.U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 l
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' *Dr. Emmeth A. Luebke
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Administrative Judge Atomic Safety and Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board Panel U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Docketing and Service U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Mrs. Anne E. Goodman Board of Selectman 13-15 Newmarket Road Durham, NH 03842 William S. Lord, Selectman Town Hall Friend Street Amesbury, MA 01913 Jane Doughty Seacoast Anti-Pollution League 5 Market Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 Rep. Roberta C. Pevear Drinkwater Road Hampton Falls, NH 03844
- Thomas G. Dignan, Esq.
R.K. Gad III, Esq.
l Ropes & Gray i
225 Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 l
Robert A. Backus, Esq.
l Backus, Meyer & Solomon 111 Lowell Street l
Manchester, NH 03105
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- Robert G. Perlis, Esq.
Sherwin E. Turk, Esq.
Office of the Executive Legal Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 10th Floor 7735 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 Matthew T. Brock, Esq.
Shaines & McEachern P.O. Box 360, 25 Maplewood Avenue Portsmouth, NH 03801 Ms. Angie Machiros, Chairman Board of Selectman Amesbury, MA 01950 H. Joseph Flynn, Esq.
Office of General Counsel Federal Emergency Management Agency 500 C Street, SW Washington, DC 20472 George Dana Bisbee, Esq.
Stephen E. Merrill, Esq.
Office of the Attorney General State House Annex Concord, NH 03301 Carol S.
Sneider, Esq.
Assistant Attorney General One Ashburton Place 19th Floor Boston, MA 02108
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Stanley W.
Knowles i
Board of Selectmen P.O. Box 710 North Hampton, NH 03326 J.P. Nadeau, Selectman Town of Rye 155 Washington Road Rye, NH 03870 Richard E. Sullivan, Mayor City Hall Newburyport, MA 01950 j
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, Alfred.V. Sargent, Chairman Board of Selectmen Salisbury, MA 01950 Senator Gordon J. Humphrey U.S. Senate Washington, DC 20510 (Attention:
Tom Burack)
Michael Santosuosso, Chairman Board of Selectmen Jewell St., RFD 2 South Hampton, NH 03842 Allen Lampert Civil. Defense Director Town of Brentwood Exeter, NH 03833
' Richard A. Hampe, Esq.
Hampe & McNicholas 35 Pleasant Street Concord, NH 03301 Gary W. Holmes, Esq.
Holmes & Ellis 47 Winnacunnet Road Hampton, NH 03842 William Armstrong Civil Defense Director 10 Front Street Exeter, NH 03833 Calvin A. Canney City Manager, City Hall 126 Daniel Street Portsmouth, NH 03801 Edward A. Thomas Federal Emergency Management 442 J.W. McCormack (POCH)
Boston, MA 02109 Sandra Gavutis Town of Kensington RFD 1, Box 1154 E. Kensington, NH 03827
5-Charles P. Graham, Esq.
McKay, Murphy & Graham 100 Main Street Amesbury, MA 01913 Diane Curran, Esq.
Harmon & Weiss 2001 S Street, NW Suite 430 Washington, DC 20009-1125 0' N. W t1
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PETER J. BRANN Assistant Attorney General
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