ML20215K401
| ML20215K401 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 06/13/1986 |
| From: | Kammerer C NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| To: | Asselstine, Palladino, Roberts NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML18031B325 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-86-639 NUDOCS 8610280157 | |
| Download: ML20215K401 (3) | |
Text
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W ASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 O\\,,,,.*
June 13, 1986
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MEMORANDUM FOR:
Chairman Palladino p
Concissinner Roberts Commissioner Asselstine Commissioner Bernthal Commissioner Zech FROM:
Carlton Kamm er, Direct Office of C gress' airs SUBJECT 6/11 DINGELL HEARING ON TVA This memorandum summarizes a hearing on TVA's Nuclear Program held on June 11 before the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
Although the focus of the hearing was to be on TVA's management of its nuclear program, Chairman Dingell in his opening statement said that the situation " raises serious questions about the basic capabilities of the NRC to regulate the nuclear industry." He criticized as a " low water mark" what he said was hRC's attempt to defend its actions during the February hearing on the same subject. He then went on to say that he is considering whether NRC should appoint a full time Special Master from outside of NRC to resolve the TVA issues. A copy of the opening statement is attached.
Other notable comments made by Mr. Dingell during the hearing include:
NRC will be recalled to testify further concerning its regulation of the TVA nuclear program, particularly in connection with TVA's 3/20/86 certification to NRC concerning Appendix B compliance.
The Subcommittee intends to obtain a complete set of QTC Corporation's files on intimidation and harassment in the TVA nuclear program, either from QTC or NRC.
Three panels testified. The first panel consisted on Messrs. Smith, Guity, Jones, Sauer, and Washer, members of the TVA Nuclear Safety Review Staff (NSRS) who had raised safety concerns within and without TVA.
Mr. Owen Thero and two associates of QTC corporation made up the second panel. The members of the TVA Board along with Admiral White, Mr. Willis, Mr.
Zigrossi, and Mr. Sanger made up the third panel. Notable comments from the first two panels are presented below.
Panel I:
The changes made by TVA since NRC's heightened interest began last Spring are mere windowdressing.
NRC has been aware of TVA's problems for over a decade and only NRC can explain its retu:,al to take appropriate action.
8610280157 861017 hES 6-639 PDR
-y-Over the years instead of taking action to see that problems were corrected, NRC simply handed out fines.
These fines now total
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more than $1 million, a fact of which NRC is unjustifiably proud.
Intimidation and harassment of NSRS staff members for raising safety issues continues to this day.
The most serious safety concerns facing TVA today are:
1)
Indeterminate quality of TVA's structural steel welding, 2)
Failure of cable installation practices to meet regulatory requirements, 3) Deficient system of design and construction of seismic category I supports, 4) Missing engineering calculations for thousands of safety related pipe supports, 5) Lack of material traceability.
NRC found out about the pipe support issue by reading the Chattanooga Times.
TVA decreased their standards for inspecting welds by slipping a three word change into a five hundred page amendment submitted to NRC. This change went unnoticed by NRC. TVA snows NRC with a lot of paper in order to get by.
Ten million feet of cable at Watts Bar have been stretched, bent, and subjected to damaging pressure. NRC has known about this problem since 1981 but has not taken action on it. The recent cooling tower fire is an example of a problem caused by a cable failure.
The 2.10 process provides no real remedy for intimidation and harassment problems.
Panel II:
QTC found an extremely high rate for substantiation of allegations before their contract was terminated.
TVA's 3/20/86 statement to NRC on Appendix B compliance is false.
TVA is not aware of their plants' as-built status and how or whether it meets the design plans.
Watts Bar could be the next Chernobyl.
In a seismic event, the sandy soil used as backfill to support footings of the essential raw cooling water system would give way due to a phenomenon known as liquefaction.
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In their written statement and several times in their oral testimony, the TVA Board members emphasized that they do not hold the NRC responsible for their problems today. They cited two factors for their current predicament:
lack of centralized responsibility and problems with their system of checks and balances. Mr. Dean estimated the cost of the shutdowns at 50.5 million per day; however the Board had no estimate of the cost to make the plants functional again. Ratepayers bear these costs; none are shared by the taxpayers.
Other notable items that surfaced during Panel III include:
Mr. Dingell returned repeatedly to the issue of TVA's 2/85 certification that Watts Bar was ready for fuel load and whetner it constituted a material false statement.
Under intense questioning, Mr. Zigrossi gave backlog estimates that ranged from five years to 90 days for harassment cases referred to the TVA Inspector General.
Admiral White indicated that his action in moving the NSRS staff to was not an act of harassment and that in fact the move had been recommended to him by an investigator with the Department of Labor.
Admiral White indicated that the issue raised by QTC concerning liquefaction of soils had been resolved by TVA's internal analysis, a report by Stone and Webster, and an analysis by recognized seismic experts.
Copies of the written testimony are available from the Office of Congressional Affairs.
Attachment:
As stated cc: 01 OIA OGC SECY ED0
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PUBUC CITIZEN Buyers Up D Congress Watch O Critical Mass O Health Heseorth Gmup O Litigation Gmup O Tax Group August 22, 1986 Don Grimsley Director, Division of Rules & Records Nuclear Regulatory Commission FREEDOM OF INFORMATION Washington, DC 20555 ACT REQUEST MNBB 4210
,gyg g_ g Attn. Freedom of Information Act Request hI Q -g -8 h Mr. Grimsley:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, as amended, 5 U.S.C.
S 552, Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project hereby requests any and all records on:
1.
the current timetable for correcting the technical and engineering problems at the three Browns Ferry nuclear reactors and the two Sequoyah nuclear reactors so that they can resume generating electricity.
2.
the capital investment necessary to correct the technical and engineering problems at the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors.
3.
the expected annual costs for operating and maintenance at the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors over the remaining lifetime of these reactors, if they resume operating, including fuel costs.
4.
the expected annual costs for capital improvements at the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors over the remaining lifetime of these reactors, if they resume operating.
5.
the expected costs for operating and maintenance and fuel for the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors if they resume i
operation, plus the expected costs for any capital improvements that will be necessary in the future.
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6.
possible reductions for the cost to decommission the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors by closing these reactors now instead of at the end of their expected lifetimes.
l 7.
possible cost reductions for disposing of any radioactive waste, including both high and low level waste, that would result i
from closing the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors now instead of at the end of their expected lifetimes.
l 215 Pennsyhvnia Ave. SE D Washington, DC 20003 0 (202) 546-4996
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the daily cost for upkeep and maintanence at the Browns Ferry and Sequoyah reactors while they are closed, including labor costs, security costs, the cost to supply replacement power, and.any other costs directly or indirectly associated with the plants.
" Decommissioning" as used in this request means restoring a nuclear reactor site to its original state.
" Waste disposal costs" as used in this request means the costs to dispose of all radioactive waste, including both high and low level.
" operating and maintenance costs" as used in this request mean those costs which are reported to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in annual form 1 as " operating and maintenance costs."
" capital improvments" as used in this request mean any investments necessary to' ensure safe and reliable plant operation that are not included under standard operating and maintanence Costs.
In this request, " record" includes, but is not limited to, any memoranda, reports, studies, reviews, letters, computer memories and printouts, audio and video tapes, movies and any other form of communication, in the possession of any_ individual or office in the NRC, whether generated by the NRC, its contractors, the nuclear industry or any other source.
Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project is a nationally known non-profit public interest organization founded in 1974.
As part of our work we publish numerous reports concerning nuclear power and the economics of operating nuclear plants.
Public Citizen is currently researching a paper which will examine the economic impacts of phasing out nuclear power.
Public Citizen will use these documents in this report, and we will disseminate and distribute the information contained therein to the press and public.
Public Citizen has released several studies in the past concerning nuclear economics and these reports have attracted i
i attention in the national, local, and trade media. Thousands of
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copies of these reports have been sold or distributed to members of the public, industry, and citizen groups.
Since furnishing i
these documents "can be considered as primarily benefitting the general public," we request a complete waiver of any processing l
or' duplicating costs you might incur in providing these records j
to us under the provisions of 10 C.F.R. S 9 and 14(a).
If you l
rule otherwise, please notify us before filling the request.
i Nothing in this request should be considered a request for the private records of any specific individual.
Hence, no i
l provisions of the Privacy Act should be deemed applicable.
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If all or any parts of this request are denied, please cite the specific exemptions (s) on which you rely in refusing to release the documents.
Further, since the Freedom of Information Act provides that if only portions of a file are exempt from release, the remainder must be released, we request that we be. provided with all non-exempt portions which are reasonably segregable.
Of course, we reserve our right to appeal the withholding or deletion of any information.
As provided in the Freedom of Information Act, we will expect to receive the requested records or a final determination within ten working days.
If your office is unable to fully respond to this request in that time, please send us a written estimate of when the response will be completed.
If you have any questions about this request, please telephone me at (202) 546-4996.
Thank you for your help.
Sincerely, 7
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d# oseph Kriesberg J
Policy Analyst Critical Mass Energy Project of Public Citizen i
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