ML20147B852

in Response to ,Forwards Info on Status & Issues Relevant to Subj Facil.Pub Hearings Are Being Held & the ASLB Will Make the Final Decision Re Restart

ML20147B852
Person / Time
Site:	Vallecitos File:GEH Hitachi icon.png
Issue date:	02/09/1978
From:	Dircks W NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO)
To:	Tower J SENATE
Shared Package
ML19261A240	List: ML20147B823 ML20147B835 ML20147B852
References
NUDOCS 7810110207
Download: ML20147B852 (2)

Text

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UNITED STATE 5

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NUCLE AR REGULATORY COMMisslON

. WlJHINGT ON. D. C. 20555

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FEB 9 1973 O -

, ',The Honorable John G. Tower United States Senate -

Washington, D. C. 20510

Dear Senator Tower:

I am pleased to reply to your letter of December 20, 1977, to Chairman Hendrie regarding the recent Order issued by the Commission's.0ffice of fluclear Reactor Regulation directing the Gene'ral Electric Company to suspend operation of the General Electric Test Reactor (the GETR) at the Vallecitos' Nuclear Center near Pleasanton, California. Since, as noted below, this aiatter may be considered by an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) and since an ASLB decision would be subject to review by the Commission, it would not be appropriate for the Chairman to respond to your letter at this time. Accordingly, it has been referred to me for reply.

Yc. have urged that we take immediate steps, consistent with safe, accident-free operation, to permit resumption of. GETR operations at the earliest possible time and thus resume the s'upply of radioisotopes from the GETR. You have also urged that we give serious consideration to the appointment of a special task force composed of competent, independent, private geological consultants to speed up the process of obtaining the necessary geological data upon which to base our decision regarding resumption of operation of the GETR.

The enclosure, " Matters of Concern in Connection with fluclear Regulatory Commission's October 24, 1977 Show Cause Order to General Electric Company-Relating to the General Electric Test Reactor," with its attachments provides a brief summary of the status and issues relevant to this facility As stated in the enclosure, public interest in this matter has been high.

The flRC has been requested to hold public hearings on the Show Cause issue before allowing contiriued operation of the GETR. The Commission is currently reviewing two specific petitions - one from the Honorable Ronald V. Dellums and one from Friends of the Earth - which ask for a hearing before resumption of GETR operation is authorized. If these petitions are granted, the decision to allow interim operation rests with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. This Board will receive testimony from the flRC staff, General Electric Company and other hearing particil pants at a public hearing, on which its decision will be based.

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.The Honorable John G. Tower - lc ; ( <

We too were concerned about the potential impact that the GETR shutdown and resulting disruption of the supply of radioisotopes, particularly those for medical purpotes, might have. Please refer to the Octotter 28, 1977 memoran-dum (see Atthchment 3 of the enclosure) from our radiopharmaceutical consul-tant, Captain William H. Briner, USPH (ret.) which summarizes the results of a comprehensive study, completed prior to the October 27, 1977 shutdown of the GETR, on current need and future supply of radionuclides which are essen-tial . for medical and industrial purposes. The study concluded that no sig-nificant shortage of medically important radionuclides should occur as a '

result of the GETR shutdown.

With regard to the appointment of a special task force to gain the necessary geological information as quickly as possible, we would like to point out that we have already asked the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the inde-pendent consulting firm of flewmark & Hall to provide consultation and advice in the areas of geology, seismology and structural analysis. We have also sought and obtained advice from the California Division of Mines and. Geology in the area of landslides. It is our view that the establishment of a special task force at this time would not speed up the process, but would more likely require additional time. Because the geological features related to the GETR site are highly complex and the amount of actual hard data is very limited, considerable time would be required for such task force to provide a meaningful assessment involving (1) assimilation of the available data, (2) development of arguments to deal with concerns where no data is available, and (3) professional judgment based on researching the applicability of other seismic events at other places having somewhat highly competent geologists, seismologists and structural engineers who have been involved in this matter for some time and who are now in the process of analyzing the relevant data; the staff has also requested the assistance of USGS which has also been involved in the geologic investigation to date. Consequently, it is our opinion that the course of action we are presently pursuing will be the most expeditious way of proceeding to resolve oor concerns.

We trust that the information providad in this letter and its enclosure is responsive to your concerns.

Sincerely, L  !.h ,

WillbmJ.Dircks Assistant Executive Director for Operations

Enclosure:

Matters of Concern in Connection with flRC's October 24, 1977 Show Cause Order to GE Relating to the GETR

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