ML20234B487

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Responds to in Response to Author Ltr Expressing Concerns Re Planned Const of Reactor.Aec Ltr Not Fully Reassuring for Listed Reasons.Related Info Encl
ML20234B487
Person / Time
Site: 05000000, Bodega Bay
Issue date: 05/01/1963
From: Heideman M
AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:
US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC)
Shared Package
ML20234A767 List: ... further results
References
FOIA-85-665 NUDOCS 8709180429
Download: ML20234B487 (6)
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Thank you for youn letter of April 2h. Despite its expretised hopes, I did not find it or its enclosures fully reassuring, for the following ,

reasons: 1

1. Understandably, you interpret your " responsibility relative to the health and safety of the public" in a restricted way and reject consid- i cretion of " coning questions, conservation matters, and the esthetics of '

the site", among others. You have referred tny letter to the Fish and Wild-life Service, U. S. Department of the Interior, for " reply to the broad questions of conservation of resources ...". However. it 4a = h t that -

,the AEC is the only licensine power acting (the State of California, and-others, having deferred entirely to the AEC), and the above-mentioned j Service of the Depertment of Interior has no power to act, even if inter-ested. What force will their opinions - or those of others with broad interest in human welfare - have, since only AEC has the power to act and you specifically reject considerations aside from safety in the narrow sense]

2. You outline elaborate hearing and review provisions, includir.g opportunity for the public to be heard, prior to licensing. I note in passing that only " limited hearing" will be granted to citizens not having a direct, i.e., presumably local and, especially, financial interest, so r that impartial ernerta (m whatever phase - broad or technicall_ouiside, h of the AEC8s staff or chosen consultants would not be given equal hearing.

II However, the most alarming provision in the enclosed policy pamphlet states that "Such things as site exploration, site excavation, procurement or manu-facture of coponents, and nstruction of non-nuclear facilities may te done without 1.e. prior.to an AEC construction permit". Essentially, this policy risans hat there is no control over the choice of site or whether i t there should be perndesion for a given site to be used for a nuclear reactor;:

l Q tha company can just'go ahead and " railroad" this decision. Once the inter-l ./ ested company has 'gone that far, the AEC would be under great compulsion to grant a license sooner or later, and I should be very surprised if it ever forced abandonment of a site and facilities at that stage of development.

.In essence you would only take detailed steps to see that installation would i fulfill your requirements for safety, sooner or later becoming operative. l l .

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3. . Finally, regular reading o*. Science or other periodicals representing a broad sample of the scientific comunity_ would reveal that there is a wide spectrum' of opinion, even among people highly experienced with radioisotopes, on the advisability of rapid increase in the amounts of long-half-life waste to be disposed of, as well as the relative choice of methods. This fact simply reflects that our present state of experience is inadequate and can be made more certain only slowly. In contrast, there would probably be much better agreement among experts on the best way to handle waste from a given reactor once the site and necessity of the installation has been admitted. What annaz:r.

f'ently the AEC has not done, and the informed rublic has not been inv

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the pr ism , w eLivu ao to whether Lhe esnimatea (albeit uncertain in some-

~dstillo) undesirable-effedo vu the affected citizens 4-habitat =re estbitics,

' uvusur the narrow v divu, avuse1ecreation, uvw v1 .a ana by theonliFr AEC aspects of welfare

- aro junified by as thewell as safety _in ich promisedteconom in generatirg evwer by a reactor. wn11e this question might seem acadeific 16-- #

y 'I carren lana wita a poverby.-stricken economy, it is apt and fundamental in our aaffluent society" -. increasing 2y affluent in per capita income but de-l creasing exponentially in the quality of our surroundings, a problem for which increased income has proved to be no remedy. Understandab3y, the AEC probably considers such a question outsido its province. But who has considered or will consider this fundamental policy question and permit the public to express itselr on this questiony Inese consloerations explain why rr initial letter was addressed to the President.

Very truly y s, j

M. L. HEIDDMN, Jr., M.D.

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t APR 2 4 T96'3 Dr. M. L. Ucideman, Jr. 1 353 Raco Street  !

Deren, Ohio  !

u Dest Dr. ncidemans Your Ictter of March 26, 1963, eddressed to rresident Kennedy, has been referred to the Atomic Encrcy Co;=ission for censidera-tion.

IJo note your concern for the safety of pornons in the cres sur--

rounding the proponed ree: tor site at rodess Day and for the conservatica of natural rescurecs.

EncIcsed to a ps=phlet prepared by the Cc::missien's Division of  ;

htblic Infor=tien concerning the licensing of p:ver renetors.  !

I hope you cill find it rea::c,uring concernin; the dischor;;o by the Ata-ic Encrsy Cor=1ccica cf its recponsib111ty rcIctive to the hec.ith end safety of the -tG11c. .

Befwe the Cm:-inc't.n c.n centider in:nence of a permit cuth ric-w ._

ing the Pr.cific Oc.- 6 Electric CoJpany to c r "t ust the pre . ..d plant at the :3 site, the Cc .r:!c.:D;n's - ,

. en of L!: :na end Tc0uletur. Lil x2e a co~;rshenniv . :nRy w m:: tion <.. . ' c proposal, the Co*=ission's tdvirory Con'.itteo en P.cceter Sc~ .

I f;unr!- :111 thcrou;hly revic the application en.3 a pf lic hm ~.n3 will* held bet'cre an Ate .ie !ccety cnd Licensing Doerd er c:2 AOC t ering Ewi cr. es regt: Ired by law. After the inzu.'nco of an Initial Ec:ini n. by tha Aco ic SnEcty and Licensin , T.cerd or the !!cr. ring E):c.!nc f, tho entire henrin3 record in et:bject to revice by the O - mion. The hydrologieni, r rec: olo01cni, cad

. Geological espec*a of the site, including the c!?fe:te, cf certh-qucke on the prs .:ed plant, vill be ther:r.sph' cuplored in the-courso of reviet.t ty the COtr.1ssion's staff c- * .t Mvicory Com- .

vnitteo en Booeter .4fegerirds. The purpore of t. .se c>: tensive proce6rtes is to assure thorough consideration of all espects of the proposed plant bearing upon the question whether the reactor -

can be constructe,d and operated at the propoced site withcut '

undus risk to the health end safety of the public. However, 6

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Dr. M. L. Heideman, Jr. i. APR 2 4'1963 -

! i zoning questions, censervction cetters end the esthetics of the site are not within the jurisdiction of the Ato :1c Energy Cetn*

nission end, therefore, nra not considered in abo course of  !

the review cad evaluttica of the appliention vhich I have just deccribed, A copy of your letter of Ibrch 06th end a copy of thin letter ere being referred to the rich & Wildlife Service, United States Depart xat of the Interior, for reply to the broad questions of conservation of resoureco which you raisci.

As you know, the Advicory Comitteo en Pecctor Safcauards is a Comitece established by the Concrees to odvice the Comission

  1. on questions of renetor scfety. It in ::cde up of scientists and i I

cnnincers who are c*sincntly qualified in reacter technology.

The reports of the Co :mittco are r:nde avn11 chic to the public end announced by the Comission. The naalysis of the safety aspects of the proposed reccter prepared by the Division of Lice.nning end Roguintion vill nIno be r,vo11oblo to the public.

Thin analysis will set forth the position which the Regulatory Staff vill take at the public her: ring. At thet hearitts, which will bo held in California on a dcto and at a plcee to be en. ,

ncun:cd, :=c:Lers of tho iteculetery Staff vill appear to c::plein 6 their evaluatica of the safety of the prcpor.ed reector. f-: crc- #'

over, en opportunity to part!cipato in the hearing is efferded i e the public pursuant to the Comicnicn's " Rules of Practice", .,

10 CFR Part 2, a copy of t&.ich in en:: lor.ed. I fcol sure that these procedures teill canble all interested perrons in the arco l to ccquaint thenucives with the c'etails cf the propesci and with ,

the Regulatory Staff's evalection thereof. <

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$1necrc!y yours, i

(Tinn Eber R. Price. Assisbnt Director l

I Division of Licen:Ing and Regdat!0f4 l

Director

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' end Ecguir.tien l" bcct CGC Enclosuress As stated abovs C. T. Edwards

! .. Eber Price ces Mr. Clarence Pautske, Cc:z::instoner Fish & Wildlife Scruice

17. S. Ocpartment of the Interior

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r C. T. Edwards Dr. Heideman does not ask for a reply to his letter.

B-151 un but some of, his comments seem to make a reply unprop2.inte.

TO (Harn. and unit) imTtALs For instanc t in item I he is in error in statinc that RCuAaKS the broader interests have not had the attent' ion of un governmental agencies who are oblicated to protect the l l

public interests in conservation. etc.

To m .m..na .nn> perwa atmAnxs Also in item 1 j j

I think we could very appropriately point out that the '

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. public,uetrit! participate at the very hichest policy I cVe l,. (Namelv throuch elective representatives rnou cNam..nd unit) to ar.uAnxw ,

R. H. Bryan Congress) In establishing the present terms of the Atomic B-119 Energy Act which we might quote in extract to indicate that the DONE Nr1 DATE AEC itself can impose only the minimum regulation consistent I

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9 Dear Mr. Preridente- .gs tA Recent information in _ Science has called agr attention.to the fact that a privately-owned, power-generating nuclear reactor installation is planned' l far Bodega Bay, California. The promised advantage of cheap electricity is Lilliputian compared to the jeopardizing of facilities and possibly health  !

in the area north of San Francisco, as well as the pernicious example set as i far as conservation of the too-rapidly dwiM1%g, irreplaceab1m natural re- .

sources and their uses. l The following facts are relevante Bodega Bay is about 50 miles north of San Francisco, and the suburban growth in Marin County is alrea# sub-

.\ stantial to at least 20 miles north of the Golden Gate and increasing rapidly. ,

Also close to' Bodega Bey are the sites fer a proposed seashore park (in the e e vein as the Cape Cod or Outer' Barks, N.C., areas) and the state-preserved l area Mtir woods, bot 21 rare gems in a disappearing countryside amid an explod- ,

I ingp>pulation crying out for the preservation of the recreational, not to 8 aantion esthetic and spiritual, sustenance of such areas. Finally, Bodega Bay itself was chosen as the only suitable site in northern California for the U. of California's marine biology station. .  ;

In the face of these facts a private' utility company was permitted to q obtain this site and carry forward plans for a nuclear reactor installation ,

there without any prior opportunity for the public to express themselves on .}

i j the question. Such an installation would ruin the nearly areas 8 beautiful and primitive values. Secundly, it would offer the yet unsolved problem of .

  • safe disposal of large amounts of radioactive waste at sea, with potential contamination of a wide area, including the heavily populated ' shore around San Francicco. People who have professional knowledge of radioisotopes know ,

present # answers" on methodology for disposing of high activity, long half-N life vastes are only tentative, educated guesses. Finally, the possibility c

of a major accident's causing serious radioactive contamination of the near2r' area and population, particularly in Marin County, is very real. I pr'same e

r .. , the design is supposed to be virtually foolproof, just as it was at Hanford, 1 K wh2re an sooident resulted in levels of radioactivity so high they had to be"
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i This seems to be one more flagrant e:ruple of one small faction, or 4'

d parti =1-17 monetary interest, having the deciding rolm where the public interest requires that the decision be viewed from various aspects. Certainly the governmental or or,her ncies or experts de with conservation,

  • national parks, recreation, health ani welfare sh have as much role as JZf [M..

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the AEG in the Bodega Bay deciaLon. As the superice of all these specialized interests, the President has the responsibility to see that invaluam publia interests - for a full, not ,just supposedly economio life - be preserved in the face of narrow, dispensim, commercial or pecunief intereste. As 0:2r-population swells and our alleged standard of living increases, we find less and less of the world which makes life worth living being preserved for us,

.auch less our descendants. You have spoken much of the importance of economie growth. Ironically, little has been said about "the conservation of priceless, irreplaceable resources, whose progressive destruction is a problem which is - '

far more pressing in time for the United 3 bates. Bodega By should be made a  !

manifesto of such preservation of the broad interest of the people. I Very truly yours, Yf, '

i M. L. HEIDEMAN, Jr., M.D. 1 1 -

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' A di To: /kJ V 'Wf For Information

  1. OFor appropriate handling For preparation of reply for Chairman's signature (Refer to Manuai Chapter 0240)

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"" For discussion at Commissioners' Informacien Meeting For distribution to other Commissioners Daily Log I

i REMARKS:

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Howard C. Brown, Jr.

For the Chairman 1

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