ML20235Y542

Documents 870610 Telcon Responding to 870511 Questions Re Potential for Radioactively Contaminated Matls to Be Present in Nuclear Lake Near Pawling,Ny & Possibility of Any Radioactivity Infiltrating Water Table in Surrounding Area

ML20235Y542
Person / Time
Site:	07000903
Issue date:	07/01/1987
From:	Martin T NRC OFFICE OF INSPECTION & ENFORCEMENT (IE REGION I)
To:	Gilbert R AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
Shared Package
ML20235Y547	List: ML20235Y542 ML20235Y558
References
NUDOCS 8707250311
Download: ML20235Y542 (2)

Text

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JUL 01 1987 Mr. Ronald Gilbert Nichols Street, R.D. #8

'Carmei, New York 10512

Dear Mr. Gilbert:

=0n June'10, 1987, Mr'. ' Jerry Roth of my staff contacted you by telephone to respond to 'several questions you. raised in a May 11, 1987 letter to this office. Your questions concerned the potential for radioactively contaminated

' materials to be present in the Nuclear Lake, located near Pawling', New York, and the possibility of any radioactivity infiltrating the water table in the surrounding area. The purpose of this letter is to document the information which'was provided to you by Mr. Roth.

Beginning in 1958, nuclear fuel processing and research operations were con-ducted at the Pawling facility by the Nuclear Development Corporation'. Those operations included the fabrication and testing of a variety of uranium oxide fuels, as well as thorium and plutonium fuels. Several small experimental nuclear reactors were also operated at the facility. In 1972, those opera-tions were discontinued by the then owner, Gulf-United Nuclear Corporation, and decommissioning of the facility began. The decommissioning involved cleanup of radioactively contaminated structures and materials and radiation surveys of the facility and surrounding areas to determine the effectiveness i 'of.the cleanup. When the owner was satisfied that there was no residual radioactivity that exceeded the guidelines for unrestric_ted use of the property, the. predecessor to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Atomic Energy Commission, conducted surveys to confirm the results of the owner's surveys That effort was started by the AEC and subsequently completed by the NRC in 1975, and the NRC license for the facility was then terminated.

The property was acquired in 1979 by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, for the Appalachian National Scenic Trail.

The National Park Service has contracted for radiation surveys on several

occasions since that time as a result of rumors and concerns expressed by residents in the area. Those surveys included water samples from Nuclear Lake and samples taken of soil on the property. To the best of.our knowl-edge, no radioactivity was detected in either water or soil samples obtained from the surrounding area. However, a small emount of residual radioactivity was, identified in, and removed from, a concrete floor in a building on the site.

Yet another t.urvey was commissioned by the National Park Service in the fall of 1986'to reconfirm prior survey results and to determine whether barrels containing radioactive materials were discarded into the Nuclear Lake, as is claimed by local residents in the area. That survey included a series of radiological and radar examinations of Nuclear Lake and the surrounding area, as well as water and soil sampling. However, we do not have the results of that survey. We recommend that you contact Ms. Carol Leone of the National Park Service (Appalachian Trail Project, Harpers Ferry Center, Harpers Ferry, CIAL RECORD COPY LTR GILBERT - 0001.0.0 8707250311 PDR ADOCK Q hPDR oa 06/19/87 C

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.Mr. Ronald Gilbert 2 JUL 01 7pg7 West Virginia 25425, telaphone (304) 535-2346), if you wish that additional information. We have advised Ms. Leone of your letter to us in anticipation of your further interest in this matter. Ms. Leone informed us that a ' local Citizen's Advisory Committee has been formed in the area and is working with the National Park Service to resolve this matter.

We apologize for our delay in responding to you, but trust that we have been of some assistance to you. If you have any questions for us in the future, s please do not hesitate to contact Jerry Roth of my staff at (215) 337-5205.

Sincerely.

- ~'m1 51r,nreOrt

ttn er...; T,'wt Thomas T. Martin, Director Division of Radiation Safety and Safeguards cc (w/ incoming letter)

National Park Service, Attn: Ms. Carol Leone Public Document Room (PDR)

Local Public Document Room (LPDR)

Nuclear Safety Information Center (NSIC)

State of New York bec:

Region I Docket Room - Docket 70-903 J. Kinneman, Region I J. Roth, Reg 1on I l

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