ML20237B403

Discusses Recently Sent Rept by High-Level Waste Workshop Entitled, Patterns of Noncompliance:Generic & Site-Specific Deficiencies in Radiological Surveillance Program

ML20237B403
Person / Time
Site:	Maine Yankee
Issue date:	07/06/1998
From:	Brack H BIOMETRIC TESTING, INC.
To:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20237B397	List: ML20237B394 ML20237B403
References
NUDOCS 9808180238
Download: ML20237B403 (4)

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n ATTACHMDff 1 wJ.

L- Center for Biological Monitoring, Inc.

l Sponsor of RADNET: Nuclear Information on the Internet l

' SOURCE POINTS OF ANTHROPOGENIC RADIOACTIVITY World Wide Web at http://home. acadia. net / chm BOX 144, HULLS COVE, ME 04644-0144 207/288 5126 l

FAX:207/288-2725 EMAIL: sbrack@ post. acadia. net July 6,1998 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001

Dear Chair Shirley Jackson:

I have recently sent to you a report by the High-Level Waste Workshop entitled Patterns ofNoncompliance: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company: Generic and Site-specific Deficiencies in RadiologicalSurveillance Programs. This report was directed to the Department of Justice, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Office of Legal Counsel as a result of our observation of numerous evasions and misrepresentations made prior to and during the time period in which this report was prepared. These allegations are discussed within the report. Three fundamental areas of grossly careless NRC oversight ofits licensees such as MYAPC are evident; site-specific examples of I negligent NRC interpretation and application of the radiation prote c: tion standards in 10 CFR Part 20 include:

e failure to document the impact and accumulation of routine reactorliquid discharges to Montsweag Bay

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failure to document the impact and accumulation ofisotopes derived from nonroutine loss of radiological controls e.g. the 1984 leak in the refueling water storage tank (RWST) [The pattern of contamination documented by the Duratek Characterization Survey Report packages 2501, 0100,05%,0900 and 1 1000 appears to be from multiple chronic incidents ofloss of radiological controls rather than from one leakj failure to document decommissioning activities having a radiological impact on offsite environs [Montsweag Bay, e.g. total discharge of the refueling water storage tank (RWST) as well as other liquid discharges and ongoing activities]

J The result of this failure of oversight is the inability of the NRC or its licensee MYAPC to validate the site release criterion of 25 mrem /yr TEDE as reqetired by 10 CFR 20.1402. U*MW There appears to be a giant loophole in NRC regulations which allows ecosystems ,nw ya c,3 ruch as Montsweag Bay as well as onsite plant (nvirons to evolve into undocumented low-level waste repositories. The long-standing use of Montsweng Bay, including Bailey Cove, as a sewer for plant-derived liq.sid effluents as well as I

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inadvertent onsite liquid effluent spills requires characterization of both offsite and onsite MYAPC environs with comprehensive 10-61 analyses for the same radionuclides which are monitored in radioactive wastes destined for near surface low-level waste land disposal sites.

The NRC cannot legally proceed with any further decommissioning activities until these unresolved issues are addressed. Any further decommissioning activities which occur prior to or without a more detailed characterization of the environmental impact of plant operations and decommissioning on both onsite environs as well as offsite unrestricted ecosystems such as Montsweag Bay constitute obstruction ofjustice.

The situation at the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company is further complicated by a tendency of the NRC and its licensee (s) to evade, omit, misrepresent and obsfucate the documentation of these activities - a statutory obligation of federal law. The wide-spread shortage of financial resources and staff at alllevels of government and licensee operations further exacerbate this unfortunate tendency to deceive and omit. It should be clear to any reasonable observer that neither the NRC nor MYAPC have sufficient financial resources and staff to oversee the safe and legal decommissioning of the MYAPC or any other NRC licensed reactor utilizing the prompt dismantlement method. The lack of a viable, safe and economical federal repository for any type of radioactive waste further insures that onsite safe storage is the only viable and legal decommissioning scenario for MYAPC. What action the Department of Justice will take,if any,in view of the institutionalized evasion of documentation discussed in our report (the tip of a federal iceberg of radiological rituals of aversion) remains to be seen. l Yours truly,

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H. . rack cc. Marsha Johnson Janet Reno Don Clark Michael Webb l

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ATTACIDENr 2 1

,. Center for Biological Monitoring, Inc.

Sponsor of RADNET: Nuclear Information on the Internet SOURCE POINTS OF ANTIIROPOGENIC RADIOACTIVITY >

World Wide Web at http:hhome. acadia. net /cbm BOX 144, IIULLS COVE, ME 04644-0144 207/288-5126 FAX:207/288-2725 EMAIL: sbrack@ post. acadia. net July 6,1998 Department of Justice Constitution Ave. & 10th St. NW Washington, DC 20530

Dear Janet Reno:

Enclosed is a report by the Iligh Level Waste Workshop entitled Patterns of Noncompliance: The Nuclear Xegulatory Commission and the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company: Generic ar.dSite-specific Deficiencies in RadiologicalSurveillance Programs. This report wa', directed to the Department of Justice, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys, Office of Legal Counsel because of the unacceptable pattern of omissions, evasions an/. misrepresentations discussed within that have characterized Maine Yankee Atomb Power Company (MYAPC) reactor operations since 1972.

I would just like to make several general observations. As a private investigator I appreciate the sr.pport and encouragement of a number of persons in law enforcement ircluding several associated with the Department of Justice. I must observe, however, that the federal government as a whole (DOE, DOD, EPA, DOJ, NRC) exhibits a broad pattern of exceptionally dysfunctional behavior, only part of which is 6scussed in the recently issued report. The tendency of the NRC to resort to deception, misrepresentation or evasion in documenting the radiologicalimpact of reactor operations is part of a larger pattern of federal evasion of documentation of the radiologicallegacy of the nuclear arms race.

In the case of the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company, numerous instances of illegal or unethical activities have been observed and investigated, some of them by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for Maine. There are, however, a sufficient number of unresolved or on-going illegal act.ivities to require that a special prosecutor be appolated to combine, coordinate, and enlarge existing DOJ and NRC 01 inquiries pertaining to NRC and NRC licensee failure to protect public health, safety, and the environment. Essential components of ajudicial review of NRC licensee activities wocM include:

The failure to document routine as well as uncontrolled and accidental reactor-derived releases of radioactivity to restricted as well as unrestricted environments as illustrated by the loss ofradiological controls at the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company and the Yankee Electric Power Company at Haddam Neck, CT.

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e- l The failure to oversee safe reactor maintenance and operation within the licensing and design bases of NRC guidelines. l The extent to which NRC licensees have engaged in illegal and/or predatory activities such as the MYAPC thermal power uprate scam as a result oflax NRC oversight, a shortage of staff and resources, and antiquated radiation protection guidelines.

The extent to which microdegradation processes in aging reactors require early shutdown. /

e The failure to fund radioactive waste monitoring, storage, transportation, and disposal costs at the time the wastes were generated, as required by federal law and NRC regulations.

Patterns ofNoncompliance, pg. 4 It is my observation that on the federallevel, including the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorney, the Department of Justice is out of touch with, uninformed about, indifferent to and even hostile to acknowledging its own role as an accessory to the activities discussed in Patterns ofNoncompliance. There are over 100 NRC licensed reactors facing decommissioning in the next 25 years. The Department of Justice also has statutory obligations which include protecting public safety - obligations that can't be discharged by ignoring the gross failure of the NRC to oversee the unsafe and illegal activities ofits licensees. It is now clear that the NRC is not capable of resolving the numerous areas oflicensee noncompliance within its jurisdiction de?pite the good intentions of the NRC Office ofInvestigation. The Department of Justice must become more proactive and rise to the challenge posed i by failure of the NRC to observe and enforce its statutory obligations.

Yours truly, f

H. . rack cc. Marsha Johnson Don Clark

' Shirley Jackson Michael Webb I

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