ML20247H169
| ML20247H169 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 05/15/1989 |
| From: | NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | |
| References | |
| REF-10CFR9.7 NUDOCS 8905310179 | |
| Download: ML20247H169 (56) | |
Text
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f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA L
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMIS SION
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BRIEFING ON INTERIM REPORT ON ACCIDENT STUDY FOR PLUTONIUM AIR TRANSPORT PACKAGES LOCatiOD.
ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND h8($'
MAY 15, 1989
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8905310179 890515 10 #
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D DISCLAIMER This is an unofficial transcript of a meeting of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission held on i
May 15, 1989 in the Commission's office at One White Flint North-Rockville, Maryland.
The meeting was open to public attendance and observation.
This transcript has not been reviewed, corrected or edited, and it may contain inaccuracies.
1 1
The transcript is intended solely for general informational purposes.
As provided by 10 CFR 9.103, it is not part of the formal or informal record of decision of the matters discussed.
Expressions of opinion in this transcript do not necessarily reflect final determination or beliefs.
No pleading or other paper may be filed with the Commission in any proceeding as the result of, or addressed to, any statement or argument contained herein, except as the Commission may authorize.
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tiuclear Regulatory Commission 10 One White Flint lierth 11 Rockvill.. Maryland
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!!ond ay. May 15. 1989 I
14.
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15 The Commission met in open session, pursuant to 16 notice, at 2:00 p.m.,
the Honorable LA11DO W.
ZECH.
JR.,
17-Chairman of the Commission, presiding.
18 19 COMMISSIONERS PRESEliT:
20 LAliDO W.
- ECH, JR.,
Chairman of the Commission l
l 21 THOMAS M.
7.OBERTS, Member of the Commission 22 JAMES R. CURTISS. Member of the Commission 23 24 l
25 1
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1 STAFF AND PRESENTERS SEATED AT THE COMMISSION TABLE:
2 SAMUEL J.
CHILK, Secretary 3
STUAFT TREBY, General Counsel's Office 4
MUGH THOMPSOff, DED, !! MSS,OS 5
ROBERT BURt!ETT, 17MS S 6
ROBERT BER11ERO, Office Director, WMSS 7
CHARLES MacDOIIALD, Chief, Transportation' Branch 8
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 l
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3 C H AIR 1!AI! ZECH:
Good' a f t + r n o o n.
.'l a d i e s a n d 4
gentlemen.
5 Commissioner Carr and Com. mission.r Fogers will 6
not be with us this afternoon.
7 The purpose of the. briefing this afternoon is-S to discuss the accident study for plutonium air transport 9
packages.
This is an information briefing.
10 I understand that. copies of the slides ' are 11 available as you enter the room.
12 As most of you know, the 11ucle ar Regulatory, 13 Commission is responsible for assuring that standards, 14' rules, and regulations provide for adequate protection of 15 public health and safety and maintenance.of the national 16 defense and security, during the transport of radioactive i
17 materials.
Consequently.
the Commission continuously l:
18 monitors activities in the nuclear materials 19 transportation area.
20 The topic for discussion today will focus 21 specifically on cask certification for plutonium air 22 shipments.
The Murkowski Amendment, as many of you-23 recall, imposed several additional requirements affecting 24 plutonium air shipments.
Among other things, it requires b
25 17RC certification that the container used is safe.
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The Commission will hear more about the staff's 2
efforts to meer. the requirements under the Murkowski 3
Amendment here this afternoon.
4 The Office of tiuclear Materials safety and 5
345-guards will.brief the Com:oission. today on the ongoing 6
events in this area.
'T Do any of my fellow Commissioners have any 8
comtn e n t s to make before we begin?
9 (No response.)
10 If not. Mr.-Thompson, you may proceed.
11 MR. THOMP3ON:
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
12 Bob Burnett will be doing the briefing today.
13 With us is Bob Bernero. who is the Office Director. and 14 Chud MacDonald, who is the Chief of ths Transportation-15 Branch.
As you know, this is a status briefing. and we 16 want to let you know where we are in the schedule, what 17 the next steps are, and we have'some briefing slides'and g
l f
18 a picture,
- too, that we will use in today's briefing.
19 Bob?
20 CHAIRMAff ZECH:
All right.
Thank you very 1
21 much.
~ lou may begin, Mr. Burnett.
I,..
22 MR. BURNETT:
Thank.you.
Before I get into the 23 main part of the briefing.
I would like to let the 24 Commission know that Lawrence Livermore's iia tion al 25 Laboratory has two representatives here, Mr.
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1-and Mr. Carl Walter, who are seated'directly behind me.
'2 CHAIRMAti ".,ECH :
Would you' stand up, please.
3' (Whereupon. Mr. Chou and Mr. Nalter stood as 4
requested.)
5 Thank you.
We appreciate your being with us 6
today.
7 MP. BUF f fETT:
They are members on the tran that 8
are pursuing this under contract from the liRC.
9 Slide 2, please.
(Slide)
I would like to_just 10' go over some of the areas we will be hitting in detail--
11 the - background.
consisting of the Murkowski Amendment 12 specifically: selection of the ~ worst-case crash, which 13 was required by the Murkowski Amendment: the. various 14 tests that are required in that law: and then, lastly.
15 talking about other phases to be addressed in the total 16 program.
The package you '11 ' be briefed on today. only 17 addresses Phase I.
18 Slide 2 -- I mean, 3.
(Slide)
The Murkowski 19 Amendment itself has some technical parameters which must 20 be satisfied.
Call your attention to the first set of j
21 bullets.
22 An actual package must be dropped from an 23 airplane, to simulate a free-fall condition -- should two 24-planes collide in the air and so that a package is thrown 25 free of the cargo area.
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In addition to that. one of two other tests are 2
required.
One would be to actus11y crash a fully 3
operational, fully loaded aircraft or, in' lieu of that, 4
setting up worst-case parameters or. simulation tests, 5
which would then be approved by an expert panel reviewing 6
those tests.
~7 So, just to make it clear, we have two tests.
8 either_way, with the drop test being the first one.
9 Also, call your attention'to the last bullet as 10 that the receiving country, receivinc the plutonium that 11 flies through tin i t ed Statas airspaca, is to pay all 12 licensing and related charges.
~
13 Slide 4.
(Slide)
To satisfy. the Murkowski 14 Amendment and since Japan had shown-an interest in that 15 type of transport, we entered into a Memorandum of 16 Understanding with P!lC, or the Power Reactor fluclear Fuel 17 Development Corporation, in Japan.
18 They have been nominated by the Japanese 19-Government to be their representative to the NRC.
That 20 document was forwarded to the Commission in December of
'21
'89.
That document covers only Phase I.
s 22 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
December of
'88, I think you 23 mean.
24 MR. BURtIETT:
Oh, I'm sorry.
December of
'38.
25 That document covers Phase I, as I mentioned earlier, but NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRIBER $
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i the whole program. that we have outlined which contains 2
three other phases, if the Japanese. Government decides to 3
go forth, would be a public comment and panel review that 4
I related to earlier, conduct the actual testina, and the 5
last phase. certification and report to P.onaress.
5 Phase I will be completed in September of
'39.
'7 however. as part of Phase I,
in slide 5 -- (slide)--
8 Lawrence Livermore will be delivering to the !!RC. a.
9 interim report that, in ttrn, will be f orwarded. to the 10 Japanese Government in mid-July.
11 It is staff's-intention at th.e point, to 12 deliver back to the commission via a Commission paper, 13 that actual interim report.
It will most likely be I
14
' forwarded up to the Commission la*.e in June. allowing 15 then two to three weeks for Commission review and final 16 delivery to the Japanese Government.
17 That document will cover the interim or early 18 identification for the drop test. the criteria for that 19 test, and also the criteria required to wreck or actually 20 crash an actual aircraft.
21 The remaining year that is necessary to work on 3
22 the Phase I would be dedicated to creating the panel part 23 test criteria, and would not become deliverable-until 24 September of 1990.
l 1
25 Could I have slide 6, please.
(Slide)
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.of one of.the early efforts that had to be pursued, this 2
agency had to identify the worst-case accident on record.
3 The staff did that in December, informed the Commission 4
December of 1988 that it had selected the PSA' flight 1771 5.
crash of December the 7th. 1987.
1 6
If you all remember, that wa's a crash tha't took 7
place ' out in California.
It was an aircraft that was 8
involved in routine transport of people.
It was involved 9
in.a highjacking, where it is believed that a disgruntled.
'"0 employee shot both the pilot and the co-pilot, who then
'll
. slumped up against the controls of the aircraft, and the 12'
- aircraft made a high-speed, full-power dive into a-small 13 mountain range.
14 It hit at about 80 to 90 degrees vertical--
15 or, in other words, almost vertical.
Its velocity - at 16 impact has been calculated to be approximately 650 to 670 L
17 miles per hour.
18 To give you some sort of a reference, 750 miles 19 per hour is the approximate speed of sound at sea level.
20 So, it approached the speed of sound at impset.
21 Could I have picture number 1, please.
(Slide) 22 This is a photograph of the actual type of airplane 23
. involved in the aircraft accident.
It's made by British 24 Aerospace.
It's type is a 146-200.
j 25 Could I have picture number 2, please.
(Slide)
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1-Th damage that was sustained by the airplane was~
2
.assive.
It hit in -- yes -- could you back it_up just a 3
1ittle?' I'd like.r.o call your attention to the middle of 4
the picture and back to' the left.
Those small. silver 5
fracments are the airplane. in total.
6; The aircraft struck the ground a t-such a high 7
velocity that it is believed that a.shoch wave came 3
through the fuselage and - literally i.attered the plane.
9
'So, it's a rather severe' accident to try to simulate.
this j
10 t'R. THOMPSON:
It might be hcipful if 11 is the blown up picture.
You can see here where the
.l 12 impact of the plane kind of came in from that angle right 13 there.
14 HP.
BURiiETT :
About dead center and a little 15 bit-to the right and the top, you will notice a small 16 crater.
That crater is 12 feet wide and 45 feet lonc.
17 The width of the crater was created by the wing-span of 18 the airplane and, as I say, is about 12 feet deep.
19 It crashed into turf that was about one-foot 20 deep, of what you might call normal California dirt, A
21 followed by a soft sandstone.
It proved to be quite 22 effective at complete destruction of the aircraft.
There 23 were minor fires repcrted, but no sustained burning.
24 Call your attention to the third bullet on the j.
K 25 Vu-graph.
The flight data recorders -- could I go back i
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to the. Vu-graph 6,
please, now.
(Slide)
The flight 2
recorders that are required to be on all U.5: aircraft 3
were completely destroyed in the accident, and there are 4
two of them.
5 That particular device was selected to be 5
studied, to try to figure out the amount of G-forces that 7
may have been demonstrated at the particular airplane.
8 That-device was picked because we know a great deal about 9
- r. hat particular structure because it is specified by the 10 FAA to'very fine details.
11 It's believed, by looking at the damage of 12 those two devices, that the plane sustained a 5000G force 13' impact, well and above anything that' in our current i
14 regulations.
So, from this, we believe that the 15 resulting test criteria will be very, very difficult to l
16 meet.
17 Mumber 7, please.
(Slide)
To-kind of let you 18 know where we are in this program, one, the aerial survey 19 of the crash site has been completed, and this allowed 20 the licensee to computerize it, to get better 21 understanding of the crash impacts.
22 Also, several core samples have.been taken from 23 the crash vicinity, to get the depth and the hardness of 24 the rock.
We have completed preliminary shear-25 compression wave testing which,
- again, allows us to l
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'l characterize the hardness of the soil All of that data 2
is back at the laboratory right now, for sampling.
3
.One final test will be accomplished in the'next l
l 1
4 two or three weeks', and this. again, will allow us' to 5
.nake cursory estimates on the hardness of th+ soil, so l
6 that in selecting some test site we can more quickly f
I 7
separate the good sitss from the bad sites.
3-Slide 8.
(Slide)
I would like to call the 9
Commission's attention to the fact that we have two 10-possible bases for staff consideration.
One, we could go.
11 with the' parameters of the actual PSA flight 1771 -
in 12 other words, take the angle of impact.
the crash' 13 velocity, and the hardness of the s oil. ' -- however, we-14 believe that it may not be possible to meet all of that 15 criteria for a selected test site.
In other words, the 16 airplane that is selected by the Japanese Government for 17 transport, may or may not be able to achieve the actual:
18 velocities that this particular airplane achieved.
19 Secondly, the test site may or may not have 20 exactly the.same hardness of soil.
And, thirdly, test 21 range conditions have to be met.
Whenever an airplane or 22 a staging of a test like this is pursued, it must be 23 presented to the range officer for safety considerations.
24 They might put certain restrictions on that test.
We 25 don't know yet.
It is possible.
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12
_1 Therefore, the test or the staging of the 2
actual test will be as close to the actual accident that l'
l-3 I briefed you on. but not necessarily exactly the-same, 4
and the Murkowski Amendment allows for this variance.
In 5
the law.
rhey do refer to satting up the _ test tn-the 6
-xtent practicable.
_ S o _.
this type of problem was 7
anticipated in the law.
8 Slide 9,
please.
(Slide) tiow to talk' about 9
the first item that I briefed you on, on the interim test 10 that would drop the plane from cruise altitude.
It's 11 assumed at this point that the Japanese Government would 12 probably select a large cargo-type' aircraft.
The reason 13 for this is, it would have to take the weights involved, 14 and it would have to be able to fly from France to Japan 15 which is estimated to be at about an 18-hour f'ight.
16 There are only several airplanes available, or even on 17 the drawing boards, to do that, and they are all of the 18 large 747 type.
39 Assuming that they would use an aircraft of 20 that type, they cruise at 43,000 feet.
The law requires 21 that this drop test be accomplished at cruise altitude 22 and in soil conditions similar to those that went along 23 with the PSA 1771 data.
- However, looking at the 24 technical data associated with such a test, it's been I
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would' probably be achieved. or it would be achieved, 2
dropping it from 23.000 feet.
So, going above that 3-serves no technical purpose.
4
- Also, the horizontal velocity p a r a m e t e r.i s 5
essentially nullified from 23.000 feet.'and it's falling 6
completely vertical at 'that point.
So.
for safety
-7 reasons. it might be better to use a helicopter, or maybe 8
even a C-130, and drop it from 23,000.
That would meet 9
the technical parameters of the law. we believe.
10 So, I guess what I'm trying to say is that. at 11.
this point. we have identified the technical parameters 12 of the accident that.the PSA airplane experienced, and 13 there are ways to satisfy the law, at this point.
14 Slide 10, please.
15 MR. THOMPSO11:
Let me make'sure, when you say 16 that, Bob, there is one aspect of the test that we really 17 are still exploring, and that 's the hardness of the 18 impact surface.
And we've gotten data that will allow us 19 to complete that particular analysis, and that's what our 20 contractor is doing for us, but for the other aspects of 21 the velocity, the impact angle, that one is still -- we 22 do have that data, as well as the drop test altitude, so 23 we do have that one other test.
I 24 CHAIRMAti ZECH:
All right.
Thank you.
25 MR. BURITETT:
Okay.
Slide 10, please.
(Slide)
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You remember that I covered in'the Murkowski Amendment,
~~
2' that-in lieu of an actual aircraf t - test, 'the law did 3
allow for. the staff to identify some technical tests to 4
be applied on the pack aging --- in other words. maybe 5
using a rocket s1-d and sending it into a concrete 6
abutment, or things like that, similar to what is done in-7 ~
the NUREG-360 requirements f or the current ' packaging.
8 Hot,'e ve r, if the Commission elected to go that route, or 9
if the Japanese Government requested that route, that set 10 of testing criteria would have to go before an expert 11 panel, as required by the law.
12 Those parameters will not be contained'in the 13 interim report to be delivered in mid-July, but would be 14 contained in the final. report that would be brought to 15 the attention of the Commission in September of 1990.
16 So.
what we intend to do at that point is.
17 probably in early September, we would be forwarding up to 18 the Commission the final report of Phase-I.
- That would 19 include all the data contained in the interim report, 20 plus this final bit of test criteria to cover the use of 21 an expert panel.
22 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
So, in June, we won't expect tc 23 get in your report, anything on that actual test.
The 24 only thing we will get is the aircraft crash itself --
E 25 MR. BURUETT:
Yes, sir, and the drop test.
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CHAIRMAU ZECH:
phasa, and the drop test.
2 MR. BURMETT:
Yes, sir.
3 CHAIRMAM CECH:
All right.
4 MR.
BURMETT:
You can expect to sue in that 3
r e p o r r., at what altitude and at what method the staff 6
would recommend that the drop be made, and at what 7
velocities, vertical impacts and hardness of the soil of 8
an actual aircraft crash.
9 CHAIRMAM ZECH:
All right.
Thank you.
10 MR.
BERtIERO :
Excuse me, Bob.
I wonder if I 11 could take the Commission's attention back to the point 12 Bob made earlier in slide 8 that, really, in the interim 13' crash test, there are two possible bases for that test.
i.
14 One is this PSA flight 1771 itself.
The other is the 15 parameters of some credible transport aircraft -- and the 16 picture you saw, that's not really a credible transport 17 aircraft for this 18-hour flight from France to Japan.
18 The July 15th interim report will specify, here 19 is the first basis, the parameters of PSA flight 1771.
20 There remains the applicant, or the agent in question, 21' the Japanese Government, can choose and identif y-a 22 credible aircraft and, subsequently, identify the 23 parameters that are associated with that aircraft and, of 24 course, later, when, and if, that were pursued, with a 25 test range in the implementation that could be different.
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.1 And the law recognizes that possibility.
i 2
CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, what kind of review or-
').
recommendation are we going to get on that here.in June?
Oh, you won't.
In the July.15th.
5 report. you'll get the --
6 CHAIRMAII ZECH:
Uait a minute.
Are we talking 7
the June report, or July now?
3 MR. BEFIIERO :
July 15th.
9 11R. BURNETT:
You'1^1 see it in June.
10 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
We'll see it in June, but it's 11 due out in July.
I understand.
12 MR.' BERNERO:.Right.
Correct.
14 CHAIRMAlf ZECH:
It's the same report.
15 HR. BERNERO:
Yes.
16 MR. BURNETT:
Right.
17 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Now, go ahead.
18 MR. BERNERO:
You will see the basis associated 19 with PSA flight 1771, that aircraft in the picture,~which 20 is the limiting case, by the law --
~
21 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Yes, I understand that.
and you'll see the drop test
-22 MR. BERNERO:
4 23 requirements, but you won't see an alternative aircraft 24 design because it hasn't -- we think we know what it will-25 probably be because of the limited availability of such NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRl8ERS 1323 RHOOE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W.
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CHAIRMA!! ZECH:
But you will not be giving us l'
3 any recommendation on that until --
4 MR. BERifERO :
Until the agent chooses what.they.
5 want to do.
6 CHAIRMAt! ZECH:
-- and then you 'll. not come 7
back to the Commission until late in 1990.
is that 8
correct?
9 MR. BERt!ERO:
Well,'the end of.the summer.
10 CHAIRMAN.ZECH:
Depending on what they choose.
11 We won't get anything before then.
Why can't you come 12 bac'k to us after we find out what the Japanese government 13 desires --
14-MR. BERNERO:
Oh, we would, certainly --
15 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
-- and then come back to us 16 with an --
17 MR. BURNETT:
Absolutely.
18 MR.
BERNERO:
Yes.
We would certainly come 19 back to you with an interim report.
interim report so you'll be 20 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
)
21 involved in it.
22 MR.
BERNERO:
We'll undoubtedly give you a 23 briefing at key points, as the information is --
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
- Well, just make sure we do 25 that.
I think that's important.
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HR. BER17ERO :
Yes.
2 HR THOMPSON:
Just so that you clearly 3
understand, we won't necessarily know what the credible 4
aircraft is --
5 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Oh, I understand that, bur --
6 MR.
THOMPSON:
-- before the test or its 7
limitations.
8 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
-- you will perhaps later this 9
summer, and then you can come back to the Commission'when 10 you have that under your consideration, and give the 11 Commission a further briefing at that time.
12 MR. BERNERO:
Yes.
As criteria are identified, 13 the Japanese Government has some choices put before them 14 15 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
I understand.
16 MR. BERNERO:
-- and their choices then affect 17 the subsequent action.
18 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
I understand.
The Commission 19 just wants to be informed, though, when you have that 20 kind of information, is my point.
21 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
Now, if they select 22 like a 747, which there is one on the drawing boards that l
23 could carry this weight over that distance, although it's l
l l
24 not currently available, it could, most likely, dive at 25 the same angle that the PSA airplane did, and at the same NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TS.AMScalSER$
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1 velocity.
2 So, the only problem that could affect their 3
test are any test range considerations required by the i
4 safsty officer, which we wouldn't know even at the point of th ern selecting the airplane.
CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Say that again.
The only point 7
you wouldn't know is. what?
3 MF. BURMETT:
All right.
At a particular test 9
site, if the test range officer says, "Okay, but looking 10 at-the size of my site and looking at the degree of 11 uncertainty in the test, I will only allow you to dive at the actual innpac t angle of 12 70 degrees" -- all right 13 the PSA airplane was 77 degrees, but if that is their 14 requirement, as I say, the law would allow us to go along 15 with tha 70-degree impact.
16 So, even with the selected aircraft, the test 17 site could further, shall'I say, inhibit, possibly, some 18 of the technical pr.rameters.
19 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, would that preclude the 20 finality of the test itself, to the extent where we 21 couldn't make a final decision, or would it?
22 MR. BURNETT:
No, sir, and the law allowed for 23 that.
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, all right.
Fine.
Let's l
25 proceed.
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-1 MR.
B U Rt! E T T :
Tenfa), please.
(511de)
We L
2.
presented this slide for comparison purposes only.
L 3
Currently, tha IAEA, through their Part 71, has 4
requirements that affect-plutonium air transport, and
-)
5 their test parameters are shown underneath that "first 6
column.
Impact of 10 feet per second, onto an unyielding 7
surface; velocities of 44 feet per second,.and target-8 hardness, as I said, of unyielding.
9 liow, following to the right, NUREG-360 is -- we 10 actually had the impact test at 422 feet per second on 11 the same unyielding surface.
The test results, if driven 12 by the PSA accident, would be around 985. feet per second.
I 13 That has actually been fine-tuned.a little bit, and is 14 coming in'at 930 feet per second, but it's approximately 15 650 miles an hour.
16 So, you can see the impact velocity, at letst i
17 under the Murkowski Amendment, would require a much
]
18 faster impact.
However, for the target hardness, it is most likely it 19 that that has actually happened, so it 20 will be much, much less than the unyielding surface.
21 The other parameters, which we've shown as dash 22 lines, are the parameters that will result from the rest 23 of the study, which we will then come back and deliver to 24 the Commission in September of 1990.
25 Slide 11.
(Slide)
Addressing the further data NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRIBER $
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that must be pursued to satisfy the rest of the'Murkowski
~
2'
~ Amendment, the contractor is reviewing now, and will 3
continue to review, the liational Transportation Safety 4'
Board data, looking at all the accidents in America, and 5
the international' Civil Aviation Organization data, 6
looking at the accidents worldwide.
7 They will be evaluating that accident data and 8
presenting to us the data to go into the final report, 9
and that will be accomplished during the next year.
(slide) -- which is our summary 10 Slide 12 11 slide, is as we stated, the interim report -- and I show 12 the July date because that's the date it is to be 13 deliver,ed to the Japanese Government -- will include both
\\
14-the drop and the actual aircraft parameters.
15 In addition to that, which I have not mentioned 16 up to this point, we will have a costing for the 17 remaining three phases of the program, so that they can 18 evaluate that at that point.
And then all of this will 19 be tidied up in September of 1990 and delivered to them 20 in final form.
21 We are on schedule on the interim report, and l
22 are on sc.hedule on the September 1990 final drafting.
We
[.[
23 are within budget, and so this was really just to make l:
~
24 you aware of what will be coming in July.
k....
- 25 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
All right.
Fine.
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l' MR.
T H O M P S o li:
I think that completes our 2
' briefing, Mr. Chairman.
We'd be delighted to answer--
3 respond to any questions.
4 CHAIRMAIJ ZECH:
All right.
Thank you.Very 5
much.
Questions from my fellow commissioners?
6 Commissioner Roberts?
7 COMMISSIONER ROBERTS:
11 o.
8 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
Commissioner Curtiss?
9 COMMISSIOtIER CURTISS:
In the interest of time, 10
-just a couple of quick ones.
With respect to the budget, 11 what is your total budget estinate for the progre?
12 MR. BURIJETT:
For all phases?
13 COMMISSIOt1ER CURTISS:
Uh-huh.
14 MR. BURiiETT :
It's a little hard to answer that 15 directly because it depends upon two big variables.
If i
16 it was decided to crash a real airplane, and if that I-17 airplane was a 747, the used airplane market price for
'18 that is around $35 million.
19 If it was elected to go through an expert 20 panel, then that's a completely different figure.
21 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
All right.
22 MR. BURNETT:
So, I --
23 MR.
THOMPSO!!:
Just a minute.
Commissioner 1
24 Curtiss, was your question addressed to our budget, what 25 we were doing with the contractor, or with the whole --
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- C OM14I S S IGIIER CURTISS:
Let me just break it 2
'down.
What's the budget estimate for our effort on Phase' 3 ^
T?-
f.
MR.
BtIRtiETT:
Phase I was cost out at S.".3 5
nillion. and understand that that is not-a n;. tiR C aney.
6 That was provided by the Japanese Government.
7 I have some preliminary costings on Phase II,-
8-III and IV ' but, again, they are highly dependent upon 9
what direction the Japanese Government elects to go.
10
COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
All right.
With recpect 11 to Phase I,
we have S2.3 million already fron the 12
. Japanese?
Yes, sir.
14-COMMIS SIOi!ER CURTISS:
And the additional S1.2 15
'comes in when?
16 MR.
BURff ETT:
It's supposed to come in this 17 month, and Japanese Government has indicated tihat they 18 see no problem in delivering that.
They asked for -- no.
19 They explored with us the possibility of some delay in 20 delivering it, just due to getting into step with their 21 budget cycle, but no problems with the total amount-of 22 money.
23 COMMISSIO!!ER CURTISS:
Would that have any 24 impact on the schedule for our program or the 25 requirements?
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24 11 MR. BURMETT:
No, sir,.we have checked on that, 2
and the delay, if they desire to - pursue it, would not 3
impact our program or the delivery of the product.
4 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
Okay.
l 3
ME BERi!ER O.
Excuse me. Com:uis sione r Curtiss.
6 You are aware that there are no appropriated funds here?
7 COMMISSIO!IER CUP,TISS:
I und e r s t eind that.
I
~
8 understand that.
I guess I have a more general question.
9 Based ' upon the work that you've done to-date, and the 10 various SECY papers that have been sent up to the 11
. Commission, now that we've focused on what's actually 12 required to meet the' requirements of the Murkowski 13' Amendment, do you have a feel yet for whether'this option 14 will continue to be seriously pursued by the Japanese, or 15
.whether at this point the option of sea transport might-16 be under greater consideration?
17.
MR. BURNETT:
I and Mr. MacDonald and a member 18 of Lawrence Livermore did go over and meet with the 19 Japanese Government.
They are.very seriously exploring i
20 this approach.
They have a great many people dedicated 21 to the cask design effort now, and looking at the various 22 types of airplanes that are available.
However, we were 23 briefed that they are also looking at other modes, too, 24 but there's been no decision that we are aware of, or s/
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a nil. in fact, they requested the interim report to help 2
them in those deliberations.
3 CHAIRMAff 2ECH:
That's the report that's due 4
here in -- this summer?
5 HF. BtTR17ETT :
les, sir.
6 COMMISSIDUER CURTISS:
In recent reports -- the 7
reason I raise that question, I guess I've seen in recent 8
reports, increased activity in the maritime safety agency 9
within Japan, focusing on the possible design and 10 construction of a sea-going vessel that would accommodate 11 shipments of this nature.
Is that -- could you fill as 12 in on the status of that?
13 MR.
BURi1ETT:
Well, when we were there, they 14 did brief us that thsy were doing preli'minary thoughts on 15 that.
- Now, the reason that they needed the interim 16 report in mid-July is to get in step with their funding 17 cycle, so that if their final decision was to pursue sea 18 transport and then notify America of that selection, they 19 would have to accomplish all of that in late summer but, 20 according to the briefing we got, they haven't made that i~
21 decision yet.
It's a possible option.
22 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
Okay.
That's all I 23 have.
Thank you.
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, so the schedule that you l
C 25 have that you're telling us about here, as far as the air I
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shipment proposal'is that you'll come to us here in June 2
with your recommendation, and give ~ the Commission some 3
time to r= view it, and put out that' report in July, is-4 that correct?
That's on the air shipment?
5
-MR.
BURITETT :
- ie s, sir.
6 CHAIRMAli ~ECH:
'And.I understand that will only.
7 have the aircraft crash test as well as the drop test.
8.
and will not have the proposed. actual full-blown test 9
that would substitute for the crash test, is that 10 correct?
11 MR. BURITETT:
That is correct.
12 CHAIRMAIJ ZECH:
And then you'll have the final 13 report -- and then before that, you'll negotiate with the-14 Japanese Goverament and get their views on it, as far as 15 they are concerned, and they will then perhaps make some 16 decisior. on the type of aircraft, in which case you'd 17 have to review that proposition to see whether it fit in 18 with your -- the interim report you'd come up with, and 19 then you'll come back to the Commission and inf orm ' the 20 Commission at that time, as to any developments that 21 might arise from that Japanese decision on the type of-22 aircraft, for example, or other considerations they may 23 bring forth, is that correct?
24 MR. BURITETT:
Yes, sir.
25 CHAIRMAff ZECH:
Could you tell me a little bit NEAL R. GROSS COURT R$PORTSR$ AND TRANSCRittR5 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W.
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about 'the Japanese level of involvement in the project, 2
and how you're working wi th the Japanese, the PNC group 3
and other Japanese officials.
4
'MR.
BURNETT:
Yes.
We went over there and met, I wasn't told exactly how many people 5
I would estimate 6
were working on it -- Chuck, t ci n to 15 people, full-ti.me?
7 MR. MacDONALD:
- Probably, 8
MR.
BURNETT:
I would say that's a realistic 9
estimate.
Many millions of dollars, and they are in 10 u e v e:c al iterations of the design of the actual cask.
11 They are looking ' at technical trade-offs between the 12 size, the weight, and how much material can be contained 13' in the casks.
So, they are, I would say, pursuing i t.
(
14 with all diligence.
15 As for the relationship between the NRC and the 16 PNC, no difficulties at all with that relationship.
They s.
17 understand our regulatory position and posture, and we're 18 working any small problems that come out very, I thinP, 19 mutually.
20 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Now, is the cask itself one 21 that we have approved previously, or is this a new cask 22 that we would have to license and approve?
23 MR. BURNETT:
This is a whole, new cask.
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, it's not only a new test
\\....
25 itself, according to the Murkowski Amendment, air crash NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRitfR$
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test, but also a new cask.
2 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
3 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
So we have,
- really, two
'4-evolutions before us, is that a-correct way to look at 5~
it?
6 74 R.
BURNETT:
Yes air.
Ud h av e actually 7
approved two casks in the past.
Ue call them FAT 1 and 3
2, for plutonium air transport, is what the PAT stands 9
for.
10 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Right, because I understard 11 this could'be a new design that we would have to approve 12 also.
13 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
And it holds quite a 14 bit more material compared to the first two.
The largest 15 of the first two only holds approximately 2 kilograms.
16 The designs that are being reviewed by the Japanese 17 Government now are in the area of 7 kilograms.
So, it's l'
18 about a tripling of the capacity.
And, of course, they 5
19 want to do that, to get
,s much material in the cask and 20 as many casks on an airplane at one time, to limit the 21 number of flights.
l:
22 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Well, is the design of the cask 23 itself -- do you know, Mr. Thompson or,Mr.
Bernero -- is 24 the design of the cask itself, as far as we know, going l~
I
\\.
25 to present any significant problems to us, as far as HEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUF, N.W.
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'1 '
licensing that cask?
Are we aware of that or.not?
2
-MR.
THOMPSON:
l'd prefer Mr. MacDonald to 3
respond to that since he is the nuclear-review expert.
'4 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right,
Mr.
MacDonald,.
5 you're on.
6 MR, MacDONALD:
Well, the prerequisite for the.
1 7
design of the'pt.-kage will met the criteria of liUREG-360, 8
and that would be the same criteria that we have for the 9-PAT 1 and PAT 2.
10 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
The Japanese are aware of that, 11 and they're working with those requirements?
12 MR.
MacDONALD:
Yes, yes, they are aware of 13 that criteria, and to meet it.
(
14 MR. BURfiETT :
But it is a challenging effort, 15 sir.
16 MR. BERNERO:
That's the floor.
17 MR. MacDONALD:
It's very difficult.
18 MR. BERNERO:
That's the floor.
19 MR. MacDONALD:
That's baseline, yes.
20 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, the base.
21 MR. BERNERO:
We're in a peculiar relationship 22
- here, a sensitive one, in that this is not merely a 23 package certification cycle, where you would have an 24 applicant saying, here is the package, here is the test, 1
l 25 look at how I did it, and now certify the package.
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What we have here is, this Phase I is a 2
regulatory development.where we're developing criteria--
3 the law already specifies that the existing criteria.that 4
the PAT packages are designed to, the IIUREG-0360 it must meet them--
S
.crir-ria.are a minimum standard 6
but, moreover, it must meet these things.about the worst-7 case crash, and so forth.
8 knd, so, we are developing, through'this Phase 9
I, regulatory requirements, and then depending on what of course, if the Japanese Government 10 the choice is t
11 chooses to abandon air transport and goes for ship-12 transport, then the whole thing is moot, but if they j
13 choose to pursue air transport further, then it goes into 14 the ' phase where they have a wholly new package design.,
15 and we are reviewing that package design and the tests 16 against the criteria that already exist and these-spacial I guess it's called-17 criteria, and we wi' l ultimately we would certi f y that package, formally 18 Phase IV 19 certify it as having ratisfied the existing criteria and 20 the new criteria of the Murkowski Amendment.
21 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
- Yes, I understand if they 22 pursue this course to go for air shipments, we have 23 before us then two regulatory challenges.
One is to 24 approve the design of the cask itself, and that has not
\\-
25 only got to meet our regulations but perhaps go beyond NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RMODE ISLAM 0 AVENUE, N.W.
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that to meet the test requirements, that's what you're' 2
telling me, I believe.
3 MR, BERNERO:
Yes.
4 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
And the second challange of e
5 course, is to approve the test itself, to make sure it 6
would comply with the_Murkowski Amendment.
7 MR. BERNERO:
Right.
8 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
And you're telling me that you 9
are working closely with the Japanese Government on all
'I 30 these matters, and you're making progress, as you see 11 fit, to meet the schedule that you've given us.
12 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
We've had a very good 13 relationship.
I would have to say that, you know, as 14 regulators, and those as government.who has provided the 15 funds, certain questions come up from time to time, where 16 we've got to protect our position from the regulator, but 17 we're working those out.
18 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
Fine.
19 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
One other quick question 20 21 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Go ahead.
on that same point, 22 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
23 before you move on.
Is my understanding correct, that 24 the Murkowski Amendment exempts from its requirements, 25 any previously certified containers, so that the two that HEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS i
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'1.
-the Commission has certified to-date would not be 2
affected in a n'y way' by. the process that you have 3
underway, or.the requirements of the Murkowski Amendment?.
4' MR. BUPNETT*
That is atsolutely correct.
5 MD.
THOMF90ti:
I' think there is a colloquy on-6 the Floor, about what that exemption was intended io -
~7 permi t which, I believe -- and maybe counsel can correct 8-me if I'm not correct -- that that was probably meant as 9
a capability-of some shipment of a small amount, not-to 10 be the full campaign-type of shipments of those packages.
11 So, I don't believe it was intended ' to exclude- ' the PAT'l-12 and the PAT 2 packages, but I think that question has not 13 been address' right en point as to whether the statute 14' prohibits it.
T think it's the colloquy on the Floor 15 COMMISSIONER CURTISS.
Our current 16 understanding of the statute.is that the.. two containers 17 that we have certified for shipment could, in the future, 18 be used for transport from foreign nation to foreign 19 nation, over the airspace of the United. States.
20 MR. THOMPSON:
That's correct.
21 MR. BURNETT:
That is correct, sir.
22 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:,Okay.
23 MR. TREBY:
That is our view.
There was some 24 colloquy on the Floor, as Mr. Thompson said, however, our 25 view is that the statute is plain on its face, and that NEAL R. GROSS COURY REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE R$ LAND AVENUE, N.W.
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~ we J don' t - necessarily' need to look, at that. colloquy in 2-
' tha t. -
'l
)
3 COMMI S S IOtJER : CURTISS:
Okay.
Thank. you.
4.
CHAIRMA!! ZECH:
All right-.
Thank you.
5 MR.
BER!iERO:
There ire f ur ther 'addi tion--
6 there are. practical considerations that, sort of militate 7
against using such a-small package 'for this kind of 8'
shipment campaign.
1
-9 COMMISSIONER CURTISS:
Okay.
For commercial 10 use.
- 11 MR. BERIIERO:
Yes, for the intended use here.
12 MR. BURNETT:
In fact, by the year 2000, which-13 is - just a convenient date to program, it is estimated 14 there will be 30,000 kilograms' of plutonium to be 15 transported from France to Japan.
16 So, even atlthe 7 kilogram quantity per. cask, 17 and figuring about 12 casks per airplane, it would take 18 approximately 16 -- 600 flights to transport-that amount 19 of material.
And then if you wanted to figure maybe 100 1
l 20 flights a year, which is figuring two or three days.for-l, 21 turnaround, it would take-you ten or twelve years.
22 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
For the smaller casks.
23 MR.
BURNETT:
No, for the 7 kilograms, the 24 larger ones, and then if you consider --
j
(./
25 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
How about the ones that the NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHOOf $5 LAND AVENUE, N.W.
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Japanese Government is designing?
2 MR. BURNETT:
That's the time period necessary 3
for those.
4 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Say it again.
3
_MR.
BURNETT:
Okay.
Each cask' contains 6
approximately 7 kilograms of material.
7 CHAIRMAN ZECH.
The new ones they are 8
designing.
9 MR. BURNETT:
The new ones.
10 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
That will go in the airplane 11 we're talking about.
12 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
13 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
All right.
14 MR.
'BURNETT:
The most that has been 15 anticipated that an aircraft could carry, would be 12,of 16 those casks.
Therefore, it would take 600 airplane trips 17 to transport the complete ~ complement of plutonium 18 anticipated to be on-hand-by the year 2000, in France.
19 And then --
20 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
That's between now and the year 21 2000.
22 MR.
BURNETT:
They've got a sizable quantity l
23 on-hand right now, but they are continuing to recover 24 plutonium from spent fuel in France.
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1 MR. BUPliETT:
So, the 30,000 kilograms is'the 2
estimated amount involved in the total transaction, to be 3
in the long run, transported from France to Japan.
4 CHAIRMA!! ZECH:
Between now and the year 2000.
5 MR. THOMP SOII:
Assu$1ing we didn't transfer any 6
until the year 2000, while we were going through the 7
tests. and developing the aircraft and developing the 8
packages, and started in the year 2000, it would take 9
about six years, on the schedule that Bob had talked 10 about, to transport all of that material that would be in 11 France at.the year 2000.
CHAIRMAli ZECH:
Assuming you haven't done-12 33 anything in the meantime.
14 MR. THOMPSOli:
That's' correct. assuming i t, all 15 just stays over there.
~16 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Yes,.I understand.
All right.
4 17 MR. BURNETT:
flow, assuming a different flight 18 schedule, instead of assuming a hundred shipments a year 19 and utilizing more aircraft, then they could do it if 20 faster, but with the current figuring, 600 flights 21 you just wanted to estimate no more than 200 flights a 22 year, you're looking at five or six years right there.
23 CHAIRMAli ZFCH:
All right.
Could you talk to 24 us for a few minutes about the security aspects?
We've 25 talked about the technical side, the cask itself.
We've NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRAN5CRISER5 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVENUE, N.W.
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talked about the crash-test.
ide've talked about our 2
regulations and requirements as far as the. cask is 3
concerned.
How about from the security standpoint of 4
non prolif eration concerns?
Could you - mention that 5
briefly. please.
6 MR.
B U RIT ETT :
Yes.
sir.
Built into the 7
Japanese Bilateral, there are requirements for transport 8
via either mode, by transport by sea or by transport by 9
air, and they must be' presented to the State Department 10 who, in turn, would ask for DOE and IIRC opinions on it--
11 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Either mode of transportation, 12 by sea or by air?
13 MR. BURITETT:
Yes, sir.
j 14 CHAIRMA!! ZECH:
All right.
Go ahead.
r 15 MR.
BURNETT:
And it would address emergency 16 landing facilities, how the flight is supposed to be 17 accompanied, how often it has to call in to indicate its' 18 location and status and, of course, for shipboard that is 19 of particular interest because the anticipated time for 20 the trip is probably something in excess of 40 days.
21 So, then, the Japanese Bilateral specifically 22 23 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
You can' carry a lot more of it 24 by ship than you can by air.
l l
(.,j 25 MR. BURNETT:
Absolutely.
In fact, depending I.
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on how much they put on' one ship, the' number of shipments 2
could go anywhere from just a few.to, say,. tens.
And in 3
the Japanese Bilateral, there is a specific 'section 4-addressing the aircraf t security and the shipboard, but 5
for the shipboard particularly, it does require that.an 6
armed escort be provided.
7 It does have a small proviso.in it, except
.8 where it can be proved that you have equal protection in 9
the absence of that.
.And ve ; would have to explore in 30 very close detail, the actual meaning of that, but in all 11 of-our minds it was proximity to other armed vessels, or 12 some other oversight, or something that would give you 13 equal detection.and response times to an armed transport.
14 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
Whether it's by air or by sea, 15 there are security provisions that we must be satisfied 16 wi th',
is that correct?
17 MR.
BURiiETT:
.Yes,
- sir, extensive security 18 precautions.
19 CHAI2 MAN ZECH:
Either air or by sea, that's my 20 point.
Yes, Mr. Bernero?
1 21 MR. BERNERO:
Yes.
That's wearing our hat of 22 the U.S.
NRC and the U.S.
Government interacting on the 23 bilateral agreement.
24 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
I understand that.
This would 25 be coordinated by our State Department, as I understand, NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTER $ AND TRANSCRIBER $
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with;the Department of Energy, but we would be involved 2
in that process, too, as I understand it, and -- but it's 3
.a large consideration there, but --
4 MR. BERl:ERO:
Very important.
5 CHAIRMMI SECH:
-- I hope that you have in mind 6
'also.
Mr.
Thompson, and your people, because we would l
1 7
have a responsibility, as part of our government, to make 8
some kind of a decision in that regard, whether it's.by 9
air or by sea.
g f
e 10 MR. THOMPSoli:
Yes, sir.
11 MR. BURL!ETT:
I might just call your attention 12 that there was one previous shipment that went from 13 France to Japan, and this agency was contacted and was 14 deeply involved in the precautions that surrounded' that 15 shipment.
16 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
I remember the other shipment 17 very well.
It wasn't too many years ago, as I recall.
18 Well, I only mention this because that's an this afternoon.
19.
aspect we didn't discuss this morning 20 I know it was not part of our presentation, but I'd just i
21 like to remind the staff that those are important 22 considerations.
And I fully recognize the agreement 23 that you referred to we have with the Japanese 24 Government, and the Japanese Government's prerogative in 25 making those decisions and recommendations but, also, we NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RMODE R$ LAND AVENUE, N.W.
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'1 have to, as I understand it, be satisfied; that the l
2 security aspects would be satisfactory.
3 MR. THOMPSOli:
Yes, sir.
4 CHAIRMAli ZECH:
Are there any other questions-5 f rom :ny colleagues?
l 6
(lic response.)-
7 Well, then, let me.just thank all of you very 8
much for a very informative briefing. and to tell you 9
that I think this is an important and ver y - challenging 10 undertaking.
I think your briefing shows that you have 11 been coordinating well within our governNnt.
as
.I 12 understand, is that correct?
I didn't hear you say 13 anything other than that.
14 Are there any other problems you see within our 15 arrangements with the Japanese, as far as our government 16 is concerned?
Are you working well within the parts of 17 the government that would be involved in this kind of an 18 issue?
19 MR. BURNETT:
Yes, sir.
20 CHAIRMAN ZECH:
Okay.
Then it seems to me that 21 I'd encourage you to continue that, and continue working 22 cl.osely with the Japanese Government, to make sure that 23 we can satisfy our own regulatory responsibilities, and 24 we look forward to your interim report here next month.
25 I think, also, the possibility of this having
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1 even a farther reaching i:npac t on future transportation 2
_of.any kind is very clear, that it is something that you 3
d o w a r t-to maka 'arg+r packages for air shipment, th a-t is 1
4 something that is coming out in this issue.
And, so. we 1
5 do have,
- amaln, 2
porran.t r ~ s,n e n s i b i l t r : -, in
-h is 6
regard.
7 So.
I would commend you to continue the 8
cooperative work you are involved in within our own 9
government and with the Japanese Government, to make sure 10 you bring forth to the Commission solid recommendations 11
-based on'the best scientific and engineering facts that g
12 we can be provided.
13 I also thank those of you who are assisting the 14 staff in this regard, from the laboratories and ' other 25 parts of our country, because it is an issue that we want-16 to be satisfied with when we finally make a decision.
j 17 So, with that, let me thank you very much for 18 an excel' lent presentation.
19 We stand adjourned.
20 (Whereupon, at 2:53 p.m.,
the meeting was 21 adjourned.)
22 23 24 v'
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CERTIFICATE OF TRANSCRIBER This is to certify that the attached events of a meeting I
of the United States Nuclear Regulatory
- Commission entitled:
TITLE OF MEETING: BRIEFING ON INTERIM REPORT ON ACCIDENT STUDY FOR PLUTONIUM AIR TRANSPORT PACKAGES
{
I PLACE OF MEETING: ROCKVILLE, MARYLAND DATE OF MEETING: MAY 15, 1989 were transcribed by me. I further certify that said transcription is accurate and complete, to the best of my ability, and that the transcript is a true and accurate record of the foregoing events.
Ll il T XA, fL4-L[tAtt h
Reporter's name:
Phyllis Young 6
e i
1 1
't-HEAL R. GROSS COURT Rf*0RTERS AND TRANSCRIBER $
1323 RH00619hnNO AVENUE, N.W.
(202) 234 4433 WASHINGTON, D.C.
20005 (202) 232 6 a
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[
4 O
COMMISSION BRIEFING ON ACCIDENT STUDY FOR PLUT0NIUM AIR TRANSPORT PACKAGES MAY 15, 1989 l-I e
(
l l
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i i
I OUTLINE G
BACKGROUND c
WORST CASF CRASH EVALUATION O
DROP / CRASH TEST REQUIREMENTS O
CONTROLLED TEST CRITERIA 0
SUMMARY
l 2
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4 4
L L
NURK0W' SKI AMEt:DMENT REQUIREMENTS' (PUB L. 100-203, DEC. 1987)*
o SAFETY DETERMINATION BASED ON:
ACTUAL PACKAGE. DROP TEST AND; f.CTUAL AIRCRAFT-CRAS.H TEST WITH PACKAGE TO WORST-CASE ACCIDENT TO MAXIMUM EXTENT PRACTICABLE 0_R PACKAGE DESIGN TESTS MORE SEVERE THAN WORST-CASE ACCIDENT
~AND REVIEW BY EXPERT PANEL NO RUPTURE OR RELEASE OF CONTENTS O
FOREIGN COUNTRY TO BEAR ALL-COSTS
- SECY 88-302 r
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4 f
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4 l
l AGREEMENT 0
BETWEEN NRC AND POWER REACTOR AND NUCLEAR FUEL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (PNC) SIGNED ON DECEMBER 16, 1988*
O DETAILS OF RESPONSIBILITIES 0
REIMBURSEMENT TO NRC 0
AGREEMENT COVERS CRITERIA i
DEVELOPMENT, PHASE I ONLY 0F FOUR PHASE PROGRAM
- SECY 88-329 i
l 4
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i PHASE I ACTIv! TIES c
LAWRENCE l!VERMORE SELECTED AS CONTRACTOR 0
REQUIREMENTS:
DESCRIBE WORST CASE ACCIDENT DEFINE DROP AND CRASH TEST REQUIREMENTS INTERIM REPORT DUE JULY 15, 1989 DEVELOP CONTROLLED TEST CRITERIA;
~
FINAL REPORT DUE SEPTEMBER 1990 5
._1__________
i i
I 1
I WOPST CASE ACCIDENT INVESTIGATION L
O PSA FLIGHT 1771, DEC. 7, 1987*
O ll!GH SPEED POWER DIVE FROM CRUISING ALTITUDE i
0 NOSE-ON IMPACT AT ABOUT 90* TO GROUtlD SURFACE O
IMPACT VELOCITY llEAR 300 M/SEC (670 MPH) 0 FLIGHT DATA RECORDER DAMAGE LEVEL SUGGESTS ~ 5000G FORCE O
WEATHERED ROCK UNDERLYING THIN (0.3M) TOP SOIL LAYER
- SEC 88-344 e
as 6
-_____2__._______=__--___-_~
IMPACT SURFACE ACTIVITIES C
AERIAL TOP 0 GRAPHICAL SURVEY COMPLETE c
CCFE SAMPLES COMPLETE c
SHEAP/ COMPRESSION WAVE COMPLETE VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS o
LABORATORY CORE SAMPLE IN-PROGRESS TESTS 0
DYNAMIC PENETRATOR TESTS PLANNED FOR COMPARISON STANDARD IN CHOOSING AIRCRAFT CRASH TEST RANGE 7
_1
1 1
INTERIM AIRCRAFT CRASH TEST REQUIREMENTS C
TWO POSSIBLE BASES PARAMETERS OF PSA FLIGHT 1771 PARAMETERS OF CREDIBLE AIRCRAFT c
TEST PANGE SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS MAY 3
l CONTROL ACTUAL TEST CONDITIONS 1
l-1 l.
8
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4 i
l INTERIM DROP TEST REQUIREMENTS I
0 DROP FROM " MAXIMUM CRUISING ALTITUDE" o
PACKAGE ATTITUDE NOT CONTROLLED 0
IMPACT SURFACE PROPERTIES SAME AS FOR AIRCRAFT CRASH TEST e
o 9
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_._?._---_._----._.---__--_-_---_.-_-_.--.______----_.A
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CONTROLLED TEST CRITERIA DUE SEPTEMBER 1990 O
CONTROLLED TESTS IN LIEU OF AIRCRAFT CPASH TESTS o
STRESSES RELATED TO WORST-CASE ACCIDENT PARAMETERS FOR SELECTED AIRCRAFT 0
REVIEW BY INDEPENDENT SCIENTIFIC REVIEW PANEL IN PHASE II 10
.-__-__.__-____________=__w
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COLLECTED ACCIDENT DATA NTSB (> 100 U.S. ACCIDENT REPORTS)
ICAO (3Lil ACCIDENT REPORTS) c EVALUATING ACCIDENT DATA 0
DEVELOP!tlG ANALYTIC MODELS (IMPACT, FIRE SIMULATION)
O PERFORMED lil!TIAL CALCULATIONS OF IMPACT DYNAMICS 11 i
.-____---____-___O
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SUMMARY
C lt!TERIM REPORT - JULY 1989 DROP / CRASH TEST REQUIREMENTS COST AND SCHEDULE FOR j
CONTINUATION O
FI.NAL REPORT - SEPTEMrsER 1990 CONTROLLED TEST CRITERIA l
12
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- I j
ADVANCED COPY TO:
The Public Document Room f//9,/N OATE:
5, FROM:
SECY Correspondence & Records Branch
- ~,
E Attached are copies of a Commission meeting transcript and related meeting i.
document (s). They are being forwarded for entry on the Daily Accession List and j'
placement in the Public Document Room. No other distribution is requested or 2
required.
Meeting Titie:
- ho
%)
- f[W,Ihy, h
/ >wbL l&r sam Meeting Date:
C//r/# 9 Open [
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- 1. TRANSCRIPT 1
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