ML20235C624

Requests Personal Attention to Matter of Granting License to Facility After 24 QC Inspectors Questioned Safety Due to Shoddy Const.Violations Include Unauthorized Access & Use of Seals Which Do Not Pass Containment Tests

ML20235C624
Person / Time
Site:	Braidwood
Issue date:	07/31/1987
From:	Weber M MILAN G. WEBER ASSOCIATES, INC.
To:	Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20235C501	List: ML20235C499 ML20235C538 ML20235C624
References
NUDOCS 8709240511
Download: ML20235C624 (4)

Text

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,; ',i The Milan G. Weber Associates, Inc. i M AN AGEMENT CONS ULTING $1NCE 1964 P.o. Box 81

• Deerfield, Illinois 60015

• Area Code 312/945-3673 31 July 1987 The Honorable Lando Zech Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Reference:

Our Letter of 27 May Washington, DC 20555 to The President

Dear Mr. Chairman:

West Pointers have traditionally looked down at Naval Academy graduates as not being on a par with the knights of the Hudson, but sometimes these j people from Annapolis go out of their way to prove their point. l All kidding aside, Mr. Chairman, your Commission has just displayed what j must be the acme of stupidity in one of its rulings. As a West Pointer, I hope that you willlook into this personally before it becomes a tragedy. It might well result in a Challenger-type or Chenobyl type of accident.

Here we have a nuclear plant, Braidwood in Illinois, declared safe to operate  !

by a two thirds vote of your licensing board after twenty four highly qualified quality controlinspectors have questioned its safety because of shoddiness of construction. Strongly dissenting was the Chairman of that Board, but they.

not only approved license for operation, but your Commission hastily granted j final approval. (Not, I understand, unanimously either. Furthermore, it was approved within twenty four hours of the Board's approval,-indicating to me that not much consideration was given to the matter.)

If I steal a paltry sum of money, I am entitled to a unanimous vote of the jury.

But, this is not so when it comes to the possibility of an accident involving pos-sible tens of thousands of deaths and injury to many born and unborn. No, with  ;

this possibility, a two thirds vote provides a " reasonable assurance" that it is  !

safe to cperate. If ever there was a case where unanimity and certainty are '

called for , this is one.

And all of this is being approved when the Governor of Illinois has, in ef fect, stated that the electricity from Braidwood is surplus and is not really needed.

l Furthermore, I resent receiving froa your Office a slap in the face with a reply saying, in effect, these are our regulations,- safety or no safety. Not once, but twice!

4 '

in ct 4ec Come now, Admiral, let's not be stupid! Let's not place at risk thousands of lives Eo* by a two thirds vote,- and to be operatad under the stewardship of a Company R8 who has been fined by your own commission for such violations as unauthorized 20 access (Come on in, Terrorists and do your thing!) and placing seals which do not W pass containment tests on their structures. (The Challenger accident *

t. sed .

Ea by use of improper seals.)

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ru This is your Watch, Admiral, let's think of safety. i O~

o ct Q MGW/ak Sincerel -

Milan G. Weber, - et OUR ACQUISITIONS / MERGERS DEPARTMENT CREATES SYNERGISTIC SITUATIONS

.4 1

The Milan G. Weber Associates, Inc.

M AN AGFMthi (ONluttlNG $1NCI 1964

• Le e d.eio .-oS 60015

• Area ( coe 212/945 3673 P c Bon 81 27 May 1987 ,-

ll The President The~ White House Washingte s, DC 20500 i

Dear Mr. President:

I I am not an anti-nuclear activist. In fact,1 was the one who drafted, for the }

Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Joint Strategic Capabilities Plan which first enun-ciated the policy,- since then abandoned,- of Massive Retaliation if the So-viets were to begin adventuring into Western Europe.

My military high level planning taught me to have a healthy respect for the )

nuclear environment, as well as the need for extreme care in handling nuclear l items. Much of this respect and care, still vital elements of our military who '

deal with nuclear matters,is being neglected by those in charge of commercial reactors,-including the government people who are in a regulatory role. I Recently, twenty four highly trained professional quality control inspectors i placed their careers on the line to tell about the shoddy construction, harrass- l rnent of quality-control inspectors, and exceptionally lax emergency prepared- i l

ness inherent in the work done on the Braidwood nuclear reactor here The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board allowed the granting of a license to operate, and the Nucle- Regulatory Commission granted the license. The vote )

-ne. The dissenting Member, the Chairman, felt so  :

on the Board was two - cas not safe that he took the highly unusual step of strongly that Braidwo. l submitting a strongly ,.:rded dissent in writing.

If a person sues another for a sum of money or if a man is j l but unanimous. Here,in the Braidwood case, we are not dealing with a paltry sum l of money or a possible prir on sentence. We are dealing with a possible Chernobyl-!

scale catastrophe that could put at risk a large part of our country,- and,possibly, l f oreign lands. The possible effects of such a catastrophe are so tragic as to af- l feet the food supply, the lives, and the later generations of a large part of humanity.  !

We must nor accept a verdict wherein there is a one in three probability that the i reactor IS NOT SAFE. We must have CERTAINTY in a case like this. We urge that  !

you cause the Nuclear Regulatory Cothmissione:7 to change its ruling se that B 1

is not allowed to operate. This is your watch, Mr. Presid 1 Sincerely j 9

Milan G. Weber ,

President l

MGW/ak enc 1: Memo to Midwestern Governors OUR ACQUISITIONS / MERGERS DEPARTMENT CREATES SYNERG1STIC

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l The Milan G. Weber Associates, Inc.

M AN Aof MENT con $ULTINo SINCE 1964 P.o. Box 81

• Deerfield, Illinois 60015

• Area Code 312/9453673 J 9 June 1987 l 1 l

l The Honorable Howard Baker Chief of Staff to the President The White House )

Washington, DC 20500 l

Dear Mr. Baker:

l Permit me to say, at the outset, that your work in your new job is being greatly admired here in the State of your late Father-in-Law. j I

I am enclosing a copy of a letter I wrote to the President on the subject of nuclear safety. (Please note that I am not an anti-nuclear kook.) ]

l My purpose in writing you is to express the hope that you might do something that will cause this matter to get full consideration. According to the Chicago l

Tribune, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted approval for operation of  ;

I the Braidwood Reactor less than twenty four hours after its approval by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.

Considering that the Chairman of that Board strongly views the Reactor to be unsafe and said so vigorously in a dissent to the Board's action, it seerns to me that the automatic action on the part of the NRC is not an indication that safety was given much consideration.

We are talking about the possible contamination,if an accident occurs, of the part of Illinois where Senator Dirksen lived, but much more. We are talking about risking the lives of untold millions. We are talking about a Chernobyl-scale accident. We are talking about a possible unsaie structure combined with demon-strated incompetence of the operator of the reactor. (See enclosures.)

We rust assume from the action of the Board that the structure has a one-third probability of being unsafe.

I urge that you cause the NRC to withdraw its hasty approval and give the Braid-wood matter the earnest consideration it deserves.

Sincerely, 1 Milan G. Weber

• President MGW/ak encls OUR ACQUISITIONS / MERGERS DEPARTMENT CREATES SYNERGISTIC SITUATIONS

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The .Uilan G. Weber 4. s. I n c. i us,,an .s : <; u utti =ct ., j e o n. :) . c..s . s. , . *m - w, cm 2 . son MEMORANDUM FOR THE GOVERNORS OF MUWESTERN STATES

Subject:

A Nuclear Disaster Might Wall Happen Here, s

if a nuclear accident were to occur in one of the reactors in Illinois, it would -

place at risk the people of your state, as well as other states bordering on Illinois. . j In f act, it might well place at risk a number of other states, as w ell as foreign lands.

The decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to allow the granting of a license to operate the Braidwood plant is the rnost irresponsible ruling we have ever heard of by a governmental body. The following decision by the Nuclear Re-

.i gulatory Commission to grant the license was equally as bad. We are ashamed that these bodies have no respect for human life and no regard for the public interest. )

a They took these actions by a vote of 2 to 1. De dissenting member, the Chairman of the ASLB, felt so strongly that the Plant is not safe to operate that he took the highly unusual step of submitting a strongly-worded dissent in criting.  ;

Tw enty four trained Inspectors had complained about shoddy construction, harass-q ment of quality-controlinspectors and lax emergency preparedness. We are not dealing here with one automobile causing the death of a driver, and the remaining million auto-moblics being recalled. We are dealing with the possibility of a Chernobyl-scaleacci-dent which might make thousands of squarc miles unsafe, where plant and animallife 4 in the food chain can be rendered unsafe for years to come, where the seeds are planted . l i

for cancerous growths to be evidenced decades later by the premature deaths of thousands

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upon thbusands of human beings and the later generations, as yet unborn, suffering because of the greed of one Company and the casual disregant of humanity by the regulating author-itles.

If a person sues another for a sum of money, or if a person is tried for a cHme which i might mean a year in jail, such persons are entitled to a unanimous verdict by a jury, Not two out of three, but unanimous. Also,in the Braidwood case, the majority opinion said that 'there is reasonable assurance that the plant is safe". In our view, the results can be so catastrophic that a reasonable assurance is not enough. There must be certainty when the f ate of a good part of humanity is concerned. We do not even come close to such certainty. In fact, judging by the Board's action, there is a one third probability that the plant is NOT SAFE.

i Not only is the Reactor,itself, of questionable safety, but the Company that will l J

operate it has not distinguished itself by exemplary stewardship of the reactors it row operates. The NRC has found many violations of nuclear safety measures  :

committed by the Commonwealth Edison Company. They have, for example, installed I seals in the containment structure which could not pass a primary containment test,- l and their fine was increased because they did r,ot take complete and prompt corrective action. (It will be recalled that improper seals caused the Challenger disaster.) Also, j they hase several times allowed improper access to their critical area,- in effect calling  ;

to terrorists to come in and do their thing. So, w e have a situation here where we have demonstrated incompetence combined with an unsafe structure.

Fortunately, the Federal Government is not the last u ord on this. The Illinois Commerce Commission can judge that the facility should not be operated. With our Govemor on re-cord as saying that Illinois is a State with surpius electrical power, there is no need for operation of the Braidwood plant. ,

We believe that this is a situation which is serious enough to warrant many of the State,'-

certainly, as a minimum, those in the Midwest,-t > take action within their means to pre- ,

vent Braidwood from operating. So far, Governor Thompson has not been inclined to l be other than cozy with Commonwealth Edison. We believe,however, that,if some of the Midwest Governors would approach him on this important matter, he would be reason-able and would cause the cancellation of Braidwood's authority to operate.

We, therefore, ask that,in the interests of safety for the people of your State, you ask Governor Thompson to use his influence to cause this cancellation.

Sincerely, e A $.-- -

a Milan G. Weber '

President MGW/ak

. JUL 011987 l DISTRIBUTION Docket File NRC & Local PDR w/inc.

Docket No. STN 50-456 EDO Reading File ED0#002949 TMurley/JSneizek FMiraglia Mr. Milan G. Weber, President PDIII-2 Rdg. w/inc. DCrutchfield The Milan G. Weber Assm m es, Inc.GHolahan 0GC-Bethesda '

P. O. Box 81 C.VC^.?) SECY (3)#002949 Deerfielff), Illinois 60015 VStello PShea DMossburg, PMAS ED0#002949 WWumma. l

Dear Mr. Weber:

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CVogan w/inc. JBlaha JFunches RStarostecki PDIII-2 Green Ticket file Your May 27, 19B7 letter to the President of the United States concerning Braidwood Station has been forwarded to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for reply. You requested that Braidwood not be allowed to operate based primarily on the fact that there was not a unanimous decision by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. The Commission's Regulations do not require a unanimous decision, and therefore, on May 19, 1987. the Board authorized the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, upon making the finding on all applicable matters specified in 10 CFR 50.57(a), to issue a license to  :'

operate Braidwood Station. Based on the Board decision, and based on the results of an extensive evaluation by the staff of the application for an operating license for the Braidwood Station, it was concluded that there is reasonable assurance that Unit I can be operated without endangering the health and safety of the public. Accordingly, a license authorizing operation up to 5% power was issued on May 21, 1987.

On June 1,1987 Counsel for the Intervenor, Bridget Little Rorem, filed a notice of appeal of the Board's May 19, 1987 decision.

Sincerely, Thomas E. Murley, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation l

l PDIII-2:D ADR/DRSP DRP/DRSP AD PDIII-2:PM '

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c The Milan G. Weber Associates, Inc.

M AN AoEMENT CoNSULTINo SINCE 1964 P.o. Box 81 + Deerfield, Illinois 60015

• Area rode 312/945 3673 22 July 1987 The Honorable Lando Zech Chairman Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 l

Dear Mr. Chairman:

Thank you for Mr. Murley's letter of the 1st, responding to mine of May 27th to The President, in which I complained strongly that, in a matter involving safety of people, we should not be satisfied with a two to one decision.

The reply does not allay my fears that a matter as important as safety of '

r nuclear plants should not be decided by a two-to-one vote.

It is my understanding, from Mr. Murley's letter, that this is not a specific matter of law, but it is only your Commission's implementation of a general provision of law.

Is my understanding is correct,I would appreciate it if you would send me a copy of the actual wording of the statute or provide me with Sec+, ion and l paragraph of where the general authorization might be found.

l Thank you for your kindness.

~

Sincerely,

/

~

Milan G. Weber ,

President MGW/ak ]

l PS: Governor Thompson has stated officially that Illinois now has a surplus of electricity.

l It is rather stupid to insist that safety matters he short-circuited when the electricity is not really needed.

l Jl)'

MGW g :l @ cs o f' h. } $) /  ;

OUR ACQUISITIONS / MERGERS DEPARTMENT CREATES SYNERGISTIC SITUATIONS .

AUG 11 1937 ,

1 Docket No. STN 50-456 ,

a Mr. Milan G. Weber, President _. ]

The Milan G. Weber Associates, Inc. i P.O. Box 81 q Deerfield, Illinois 60015 -i

{

Dear Mr. Weber:

Your July 22, 1987 letter to Chairman Zech concerning Braidwood Station has been forwarded to me for reply. As was indicated to you in Mr. Thomas E.

l Murley's letter of July 1, 1987, the Commission's regulations do not require 1 e unanimous decision for an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to authorize

the Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, upon making find!ags on all l applicable matters specified in 10 C. F. R. 9 50.57(a), to issue a license to operate the Braidwood Station. 10 C.F.R. Part 2 Appendix A specifically provides that "The vote of a majority controls in any decision by a board, j including rulings during the course of a hearing as well as formal orders '

and the initial decision. A dissenting member is of course, free to. express his dissent and the reasons for it in a separate opinion for the record."

Sincerely, j I

i

. Edwin J. Reis  !

7 Deputy Assistant General Counsel l DISTRIBUTION l' Docket File NRC 6 Local PDR EDO#003059 ELD Reading File  !

riey/JSneizek FMiraglia PDill-2 Rdg. w/inc. DCrutchfield i GHolahan OGC-Bethesda VStello' SECY (3)003059 DMossburg, PMAS EDO#003059

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