ML20235R569
| ML20235R569 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 09/30/1987 |
| From: | Selleck K PUBLIC SERVICE CO. OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, ROPES & GRAY |
| To: | NRC ATOMIC SAFETY & LICENSING APPEAL PANEL (ASLAP) |
| References | |
| CON-#487-4555 OL, NUDOCS 8710080109 | |
| Download: ML20235R569 (8) | |
Text
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- tWh" September 30, 1 W N@7 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ZFFt$i?.0fc$[E ESC W OARY NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BRA c
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before the ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING APPEAL BOARD I
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In the Matter of
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PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY OF
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Docket Nos. 50-443-OL NEW HAMPSHIRE, et al.
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50-444-OL
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Offsite Emergency (Seabrook Station, Units 1 and 2)
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Planning Issues
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APPLICANTS' MEMORANDUM REGARDING TEST OF EAST KINGSTON SIRENS Applicants hereby respond to the Appeal Board's Order of September 17, 1987 directing the parties to detail their positions on points of disagreement among the parties as to the testing of East Kingston sirens this coming winter.
The points of disagreement were accurately stated by counsel for the NRC Staff in his letter of September 11, 1987 and are addressed by Applicants below seriatim.
As to the scope of the proposed test, Applicants concur with the Staff that the Appeal Board Order of July 30, 1987 only calls for a test of the sirens in East Kingston, New Hampshire.
SAPL's contention basis concerned East Kingston sirens alone.
As SAPL stated, "SAPL did not file this contention earlier because, prior to the test of the East 8710080109 870930 A
PDR ADOCK 05000443 0/
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Kingston sirens on January 31, 1987, SAPL had no site-p specific empirical basis upon which to found [its]
assertion."
" Seacoast Anti-Pollution League's Contention and Motion to Admit Late-Filed Contention.
" at 2.
SAPL has-also argued that Applicants must test the
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public address function insofar as it is used to warn beach populations.
The complete answer is that East Kingston
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sirens are not relied upon by the Applicants or the State of New Hampshire to give warnings to beach populations.
Pursuant to this Board's Order, Applicants propose to conduct the test of East Kingston sirens under adverse weather conditions, to the extent that this can reasonably be arranged.
Applicants propose to schedule the test for the dead of winter, a SEturday in the latter half of January.
Applicants concur with the Staff's suggestion of January 30, 1988 for the test.1 The reasons for making a firm date for the test in advance are obvious.
The Town of Kingston must i
be consulted as to the holding of the test and the date j
i proposed; the public must be notified of the test well in advance; the volunteer firefighters who participate in the test must have sufficient time to arrange their schedules.
Unlike the test of an on-site system, the test of East Kingston sirens affects many people and must be carefully planned.
lon the occasion of the last test of the East Kingston sirens in April 1987, the Town of East Kingston specifically requested that the test be held on a Saturday.
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4 SAPL's suggestion that someone decide on a Monday whether to hold a test on that Saturday is unreasonable.
First, five or six days time is not sufficient notice to the persons who must arrange their schedule and does not allcw i
enough time to inform the public who will be affected by the J
sirens test.
Second, SAPL's proposal would not mean that the test would be conducted under more inclement conditions i
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that could ordinarily be expected in the dead of winter.
A weather forecast cannot give reliable information about the
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weather at a specific time five or six days hence.
- Moreover, i
even if a snowfall could occur on cue, the conditions of the January 1987 test would not be recreated unless the temperature were subsequently to fall, causing ice to form on the antennae.
The uncertain benefit of someone attempting
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correctly to predict the arrival of snow days in advance does not warrant the great imposition on the town of East Kingston, its volunteer firefighters, the Applicants, and the i
public that insufficient notice of the test would certainly entail.
As to the recent letter from the Attorney General for
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the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (" Mass. AG") to this Board, purporting to outline new areas of " disagreement", Mass. AG should be precluded from arguing about the procedure beyond the issues identified by the Staff.
Mass. AG was sent a copy of the procedure by the Staff on August 18, 1987 and, as stated by counsel for the Staff in his letter to this Board l-I...
of August 31, 1987, " Counsel for the Commonwealth of i
Massachusetts has advised Staff counsel that, as SAPL was
' principally interested in this matter, he would abide by any agreement SAPL made concerning the testing of these sirens."
Mass.'AG should be held to his concession in this matter.
Mass. AG's objections lack merit in any event.
As to the charge of subjectivity in human listeners, the expectation of sound does not destroy the objectivity of.the listener.
The test being conducted is not difficult and is susceptible of a clear answer.
Special equipment is undesirable since it is an unnecessary step away from real conditions.
Moreover,.nothing prevents Mass. AG from posting his own listeners, as SAPL has indicated it plans to do, or using his own equipment in his attempt to discredit the results of the test.
As to the location of observers, the-procedure contains adjustments for wind direction and posts observers at specific distances from the sirens, which is the most rational way to conduct the test.
Terrain was taken into account in placing the sirens in the EPZ, Egg NHRERP, Rev.
2, Volume 1, Figure 2.1-3, and many additional sirens were placed to assure proper coverage.
The simple answer to the
" voice mode intelligibility problem" is that the voice mode is not relied upon by the Applicants or the State of New Hampshire for warnings related to Seabrook Station and any
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test of the voice mode is entirely for the benefit of the I a
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3 Town of East Kingston as part of its emergency capabilities unrelated to Seabrook Station.
,By their attorneys, A f1 7houfas '.~ Dignan, Jr.
G George H. Lewald.
i Kathryn A. Selleck Deborah S.
Steenland 1
Ropes & Gray I
225' Franklin Street Boston, MA 02110 l
(617) 423-6100 i
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00CKEiE0
's USNRC CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 17 E4 -5 P4 48
.I, Kathryn A.
Selleck, one of the attorneys for the' Applicants herein, hereby certify that on September 30, h M I[j $j/g'.y
.1987, I made service of the within document by depositi copies thereof with Federal Express, prepaid, for delivery RANcq to (or,- where indicated, by depositing in the United States mail, first class postage paid, addressed to):
Alan S.
Rosenthal, Chairman Howard A. Wilber Atomic Safety and Licensing Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel Appeal Panel U.S.. Nuclear Regulatory U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commission East West Towers Building East West Towers Building 4350 East West Highway 4350 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814 Bethesda, MD 20814 Gary J.
Edles Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Panel U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission East West Towers Building 4350 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814 Administrative Judge Ivan W.
Robert Carrigg, Chairman Smith, Chairman, Atomic Safety Board of Selectmen and Licensing Board Panel
. Town Office U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Atlantic Avenue Commission North Hampton, NH 03862 East West Towers Building 4350 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814 Judge Gustave A.
Linenberger Diane Curran, Esquire Atomic Safety and Licensing Andrea C.
Ferster, Esquire Board Panel Harmon & Weiss U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Suite 430 Commission 2001 S Street, N.W.
East West Towers Building Washington, DC 20009 4350 East West Highway Bethesda, MD 20814 i
e t-Dr. Jerry Harbour Stephen E. Merrill Atomic Safety and Licensing Attorney General Board Panel George Dana Bisbee U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Assistant Attorney General Commission Office of the Attorney General East West Towers Building 25 Capitol Street 4350 East West Highway Concord, NH 03301-6397
.Bethesda, MD 20814 Atomic Safety and Licensing Sherwin E. Turk, Esquire Board Panel Office of the Executive Legal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Director Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission East West Towers Building Tenth Floor 4350 East West Highway 7735 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 Bethesda, MD 20814 1
- Atomic Safety and Licensing Robert A.
Backus, Esquire Appeal Board Panel 116 Lowell Street U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory P.O.
Box 516 Commission Manchester, IEI 03105 Washington, DC 20555 Philip Ahrens, Esquire Mr.
J. P. Nadeau Assistant Attorney General Selectmen's Office Department of the Attorney 10 Central Road i
General Rye, NH 03870 Augu sta, ME 04333
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Paul McEachern, Esquire Carol S.
Sneider, Esquire 1
Matthew T. Brock, Esquire Assistant Attorney General 1 Shaines & McEachern Department of the Attorney General 3
25 Maplewood Avenue One Ashburton Place, 19th Floor 1
P.O. Box 360 Boston, MA 02108 j
Portsmouth, NH 03801 Mrs. Sandra Gavutis Mr. Calvin A.
Canney Chairman, Board of Selectmen City Manager RED 1 - Box 1154 City Hall Route 107 126 Daniel Street Kensington, NH 03827 Portsmouth, NH 03801
- Senator Gordon J. Humphrey Mr. Angie Machiros U.S.
Senate Chairman of the Washington, DC 20510 Board of Selectmen (Attn:
Tom Burack)
Town of Newbury Newbury, MA 01950
- Senator Gordon J. Humphrey Mr. Peter J.
Matthews One Eagle Square, Suite 507 Mayor Concord, NH 03301 City Hall (Attn:
Herb Boynton)
Newburyport, MA 01950 - _ _ _ _ _ - _
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Mr. Thomas F. Powers, III Mr. William S.
Lord Town Manager Board of Selectmen Town of Exeter Town Hall - Friend Street 10 Front Street Amesbury, MA 01913 Exeter, NH 03833 H.
Joseph Flynn, Esquire Brentwood Board of Selectmen Office of General Counsel RED Dalton Road Federal Emergency. Management Brentwood, NH 03833 Agency 500 C Street, S.W.
Washington, DC 20472 i
- Gary W.
Holmes, Esquire Richard A. Hampe, Esquire Holmes & Ells Hampe and McNicholas 47 Winnacunnet Road
- 35. Pleasant Street.
Hampton, NH 03841 Concord, NH 03301 Mr. Ed Thomas Judith H. Mizner, Esquire
' FEMA, Region I Silverglate, Gertner, Baker, 1442 John W. McCormack Post Fine, Good & Mizner
_ Office and Court House 88 Broad Street Post Office Square Boston, MA 02110 Boston, MA 02109 Charles P.
Graham, Esquire McKay, Murphy'and Graham 100 Main Street Amesbury, MA 01913 s
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Kathi n A.' Selleck
(*= ordinary U.S.
First Class Mail.)
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