ML20236C091
| ML20236C091 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Seabrook  |
| Issue date: | 10/12/1987 |
| From: | Dukakis M MASSACHUSETTS, COMMONWEALTH OF |
| To: | Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| References | |
| CON-#487-4647 OL, OL-1, NUDOCS 8710270010 | |
| Download: ML20236C091 (2) | |
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g THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSA'CHUSETTS
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MICH AEL. S. DUK AKIS Cki G k
October 12, 1987 The Honorable Lando W. Zech, Jr.
SERVED OCT 191987 Chairman U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555
Dear Chairman Zech:
I am writing to urge you and your colleagues to deny a license for low-power testing at Seabrook Station in New Hampshire.
Several months ago you and your fellow commissioners stayed the issuance of a low-power license to Seabrook Station pending a determination that adequate emergency response at Seabrook is within the
" realm of the possible." With this action the Commission got to the heart if Seabrook Station cannot meet minimal standards of the issue at hand:
of adequacy for emergency response, and thus cannot merit the issuance o a full-power operating license, why should the Commission allow Seabrook management to start-up the reactor now for low-power tests ?
The low-power license question is now before you again because New Hampshire Yankee has submitted so-called " compensatory" emergency response plans for the Massachusetts communities within the Seabrook emergency planning zone. New Ham,oshire Yankee believes that these plans will give the Commission confidence that emergency planning at Seabrook is feasible, and thus that a low-power license should be issued.
I suggest to the Commission that the submission of " compensatory" plans does not alter the facts of the situation. There is considerable reason for the Commission to bolieve, as I do, that Se thus that a full-power license can never be issued. If a full-power license can never be issued, a low-power license should not be issued.
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~ The Honorable Lando W. Zech, Jr.
- October-12, 1987 page Two l
-You are well aware of my positionon emergency. planning at Seabrook.-
' Seabrook-Station's location and the characteristics of its emergency planning zone. render even the most expertly-drawn plans inadequate by any meaningful definition of the term. Furthermore, it should go without -
saying that the best emergency plans for any kind of potential emergency-rely on the full cooperation and participation'of local and state public safety officials. New Hampshire Yankee's plans do not rely on these
. officials, and for that reason they are inadequate on their face.
It is not only plans for Massachusetts which are at issue here,
.either. Atomic. Safety and Licensing Board hearings on the New Hampshire emergency plans began only last week. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has raised many serious doubts about the New Hampshire plans before the ASLB. The status _of the New Hampshire plans will not be
' determined by the ASLB for quite some time, which leads me to wonder yet -
.again why New Hampshire Yankee wants to begin low-power testing at Seabrook now.
If the Commission allows low-power testing to begin, at least three problems.immediately come to the fore.-
First, public safety. Even at low-power, nuclear reactor accidents can happen. There are no' off-site emergency plans in place to deal with an accident of any severity at Seabrook now, and there may never be any such plans.
~ Second, ' financial, prudence. When low-power testing begins, irradiation of the Seabrook reactor will begin. This will damage chances of converting or salvaging all or part of the plant later on if, as I predict, it is impossible to license the plant for full-power nuclear-operation.
Finally, one need only look at the situation at Shoreham to conclude j
that low-power testing at Seabrook is not timely. Shoreham was granted a low-power license and began low-power tests two years ago. Shoreham is
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l hardly closer to a full-power license today than it was then.
i To conclude, I strongly believe that the issuance of a low-power license to Seabrook Station is unwarranted, and I urge the commissioners to reject New Hampshire Yankee's petition.
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