ML20245B977
| ML20245B977 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000000, Fort Saint Vrain |
| Issue date: | 08/15/1968 |
| From: | US ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION (AEC) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20234A777 | List:
|
| References | |
| FOIA-87-40 NUDOCS 8707010508 | |
| Download: ML20245B977 (4) | |
Text
r y
f.
.. 7 )
q
( '
- f. t '.
O O /'
t
.?
.p.
(
l s
q O
usa.r b RECCIVED
- l UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 4
3.
1 1
AT0tGC ENERGY 'COMNISSION 1968 m. 21 41 10 09.
4 In the Matter of
')
-,s'-
)-
'._ ocket Non30-MPrY ccMM..-
I
/
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY
)
N"tWRibiTEE Ott
- * ', l
' 0F C014RADO
)
I-W EGUARDS.
1 j
AEC REGULATORY STAFF'S RESPONSE TO BOARD'S QUESTION
{
CONCERNING MEANING OF " UNDUE RISK"
'During this proceeding the Board asked for comments from
<c the parties concerning the meaning of the phrase '%qdue risk".
phrase appears in issue number 1.(d) prescribed by the Cosmission in its notice of hearing for consideration in this proceeding.
Issue number 1.(d) reads, as follows:
'Vhether... there is reasonable, O
assurance that... (ii) taking into consideration'the site criteria contained in Part 100, the proposed facility con be constructed andoperatedattheproposedlocationwithoutunduerisktothehealthI and safety of the public."
The origin of phrase in question is Part 50 of the Commission's regulations, particularly Section 50.35, which lists the issues
~
, upon which the Commission must make a finding in order to issue a provisional construction permit. A proper definition of undue risk in the context in.which it is used requires an understanding
- of the phrase " reasonable assurance". The Commission in its final dec$sion in the PRDC case' adopted the definition of " reasonable O
0707010508 870610 jr h hanr / b j.)
PDR FOIA PDR G.;.,, f_ q THOMAse7-40
/.
..L......
..a...
....c.
p.
(
(
O t
I
's assurance" set forth in Crest Atlantic _6 pacific Tea Co. v. Hughes, 53 Ohio App. 255, 4 N.E. 2d 700 (1935).
In that case, the court e
said " reasonable assurance means reasonable probability, established under the particular circumstances of the case in good faith end La the exercise of sound discretion and expert judgment."
. While the phrase 'bndue risk" as used in the regulations has
+
not been defined by the Commission, there are guideposts to its meaning in various Coemission decisions and actions.
s.
It is clear that the phrase does not mean the abseace of al'1 risk -- absolute safety.., This is implicit in the words themselv.es==^
i l
'Vithout undue r'isk" rather than simply 'Vithout r'isk".
Safety in l
)
1 l
everyday life does not mean absolute freedon from injury o,r, risk.
l As the Commission stated In the Matter of Department of Water and
)
y, Power of the City of Los Angeles, 3 AEC 179,185 (1967):,
J l
i Both the staff and the applicant have expressed concern that the Board, in reaching its deter-mination, has converted our standard of " reason-able assurance" of no " undue risk" into one.of I
assurance of absolute safety....
[B}oth our i
statute and implementing regulations show that such an absolute guarantee was never contemplated and that "the concept of reasonable assurances of safety must be sensibly, though severely applied.
(In the Matter of Power Reactor Development Company,1 ABC 65, 73; see also 1 ABC 128,147.)."
j l
1..
l l
'O s
0 g
e
{.
--=.
-.w.m _,
t
(
1-i
~
(
(
O 3
\\
The benefits of the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and in particular the benefits of the generation o'f electric power by
' the use of nuclear energy, have been recognised by the Congress bf the United States in the enactment of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 The Act authorized the use o$ nuclear energy by private 4,,
~
individuals under such safety criteria and standards as the ABC deems necessary t'o protect the health and safety of tho' public.
1 Pursuant to the Act, the AEC has issued regulations under
- which nuclear power plants may be operated. In Part 50 of its i
regulations, the Comunission has established standards for protection g
O
.g. inst radiation h..ards during normat operations of the reactor facilitie's licensed by the Commission under Part 50. In Part 100, the Consnission has established general guides (" reference values")'
['
to be used in the evaluation of reactor sites with respect to potential reactor accidents of exceedingly low probability of occurrence and low risk of public exposure to radiation. In effect the Consnission, under its broad grant of authority from Congress to govern the safe use of nuclear energy, has thereby set the standards for the calculation and the acceptable limits' of risk l
under which nucles'r power plants may ba operated. In so doing, e
.it has, in effect, defined undue risk' to public health and safety.
e
,s 8
e e
e O
g e
g g
_-_____-________-__L
A.
4.
q
.T 3
('-
y.. ;_..:
c e
O-1
^
In Section 100,11,'a method of determining the exclusion area, low population sone, and population tenter dis'ance from a nuclear t
\\,i j power plant, is described based,up'on an assumed fission product l
s_
y release resulting from a major accident which would cause potential hazards not exceeded by those from any accident considered credible.
Under this regulation a so-called " maximum credible accident" for a
.. /
particular facility can be " identified". The guides of Part.100 have been incorporated into Part 50 in Section 50.35(a) in that pay of the regulations which state "taking into considerat. ion the site
. criteria contained in Part 100, the proposed facility can be con-structed and operated at the proposed location without undue risk to the health and safety of the public." This, of" course, is also the language of issue number 1.(d) in this proceeding.
In the judgment of the AEC regulatory staff, the evidence which.
has been presented in this proceeding elsarly supports an affirmative conclusion with respect to this issue.
Respectfully submitted, twf
% g%ff f.
Dated at Bethesda, Maryland, 3
this 15th day of August' 1968.
O i
e 8
e e
.....w
-e
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _