ML20136C488

Forwards News Release Informing of B Kenyon Appearance on Nuclear Safety Issues on 970120

ML20136C488
Person / Time
Site:	Millstone
Issue date:	01/11/1997
From:	Blanch P AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	Zwolinski J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned)
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NUDOCS 9703120096
Download: ML20136C488 (4)

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From PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>

To: WND2.WNP3(jaz)

, Date: _

1/11/97 11:47am 1 Subjects Bruce Kenyon on TV Citizens' Regulatory Commission 180 Great Neck Road . Waterford, Conn. 06385 phone: (860) 444-0113 .

fax: (860) 822-1212 News Release l CONTACT: Glenn Cheney (822-1270) or Susan Perry Luxton (444-0113) i l l

NU Nuclear Chief To Talk on TV WATERFORD (January 13) - Bruce D. Kenyon, president and chief executive officer of Northeast Utilities' nuclear operations, will appear on " Nuclear Safety i

Issues," a weekly television program. The live broadcast is scheduled for Monday, January 20 from.7:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Eastern Connecticut Cable TV channel 37. )

l During part of the live program, viewers will be able to call in j with questions for Mr. Kenyon and the hosts of the program,

! Susan Perry Luxton, of Waterford, and Mark Holloway, of East Lyme.

"At last we'll have an opportunity to interview an NU officer on our show," said Sus'an_Luxton, a member of the Citizens' Regulatory Commission, which produces the program. "Our community is very eager to have a direct dialogue with Mr. Kenyon about the situation at Millstone."

All three reactors of the Millston Nuclear Power Station have been shut down for almost a year due to thousands of technical, legal and safety problems.- Bruce Kenyon was hired by NU to get the reactors back on line as soon as possible.

Since early 1996, " Nuclear Safety Issues" has been helping the Waterford/New London community understand the many complex political, technical, legal, financial and safety problems at Millstone.

30 -

i.

i 4

Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant

135 Hyde Rd.

1 l 9703120096 970306

! PDR ORG NRRA PDR

. . . - _ . - - . - - . - - . . . _ - . - - - . . _ . - - - - - . . - . . ~.

1. 6 o%

! From: PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>

~

To: DAVE SIEGELJ<dsiege19nspe.org>

Date ~ . -1/11/97 12:26pm Subjects .OIG INVESTIGATION OF MAINE YANKEE SEE RESPONSE BELOW November 25, 1996 Mr. Hubert Bell Inspector General U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

! T5-D28 Washington, DC 20555 RE: MAINE YANKEE l-

Dear Sir:

On November 19th, my husband and I attended the citizens'

, Panel =

L Review of the NRC's ISA Report on Maine Yankee sponsored by l Friends = of the: Coast. Dave Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned i Scientists and =

l Paul Blanch were on that panel and raised serious outstanding =

l technical issues at Maine Yankee.which pose a significant threat

!. to = public safety even at the current operating power level of 2440 MWth.

The bottom line of their comments is that safety systems at i

Maine =

Yankee cannot be relied upon to perform their intended (and required) = functions to shutdown the plant during an accident in

a manner which = does not adversely impact public safety.

l-l The Union'of Concerned Scientists' p ess release states:

i

"[t]he =

L Nuclear Regulatory Commission must immediately require the Maine Yankee Atomic Power Company to correct unresolved problems at its l =

l Maine nuclear power plant if it is to operate safely . . . " Why is = the NRC allowing Maine Yankee to operate with unresolved problems = which affect safety-related systems?

l

! As the mother: of two young children living with her family in Maine =

Yankee's evacuation zone, this~ situation is extremely alarming.

{ There seems little that citizens can do to protect themselves

when = the NRC wilfully refuses-to enforce their regulations and

bring Maine = .

Yankee into compliance. Therefore, I am turning to you. Would l you = please look into this on-behalf of concerned Maine

residents. -

Many of.us.who have been closely following the events of the past = year with respect to Maine Yankee and the NRC believe that Maine's = - l Governor, Angus King, may be exerting his influence with the NRC to = keep Maine Yankee operating despite its current condition.

We = believe this may be the case because of his family's past financial = ties to Maine Yankee's majority owner, Central Maine Power company =

(CMP). According to Dennis Bailey of the Governor's staff =

(207-287-3531), Governor King's wife, Mary Herman, is a former CMP = lobbyist. Angus King's company, Northeast Energy Management, was = regularly subcontracted by CMP, and was one of his biggest clients. =

Governor King subsequently sold this business to EUA Cogenics of l Lowell, Massachusetts -- a subsidiary of Eastern Utility Associates, = which is another one of Maine Yankee's owners. Mr.

Bailey told us = that Angus King was paid for this multi-million dollar transaction in =

Eastern Utility Associates stock.

l Two other state officials have financial ties to Maine 1

Yankee and = may be pressuring the NRC to turn a blind eye to the plant's = problems. Uldis Vanags, the State Nuclear Safety Advisor, informed = us that prior to his current appointment, he taught a course in =

l Radiological Health at the University of Maine. For five years, l his =_ position and the program he taught were directly funded by Maine =

Yankee. He also told us that the office of the State Safety  ;

Nuclear =

Advisor is funded by Maine Yankee and that if the plant were to shut = down, he would have to seek new employment. Pat Dostie, the State =

Nuclear Inspector, is rumored to be a former Maine Yankee employee. =

One would assume that his position is also funded by Maine Yankee and = that like the State Nuclear Safety Advisor, he would also be forced = to seek alternative employment were the plant to close due to safety = concerns.

My family and I feel threatened by the current operation of 1 Maine = l Yankee outside its licensing and design bases, and do not believe

= that the NRC will take steps to correct the situation. The public = faces a crisis of confidence in the ability of Maine '

i Yankee to = operate safely and in the ability and. resolve of the i

NRC'to properly = regulate. We have also lost faith in our

! Governor, the State Safety =

Nuclear Advisor and the State Nuclear Inspector due to their

obvious = conflicts of interest regarding Maine Yankee. The Maine Attorney =

l 1

l l

General's Office has refused to intervene -- stating this is a =

federal, not a state matter.

l

Given that your office does have the appropriate federal =

i jurisdiction, we urge you to look into why the NRC is allowing Maine =

l Yankee to operate outside its licensing and design bases before l my - family and the other residents of the State of Maine suffer the = unspeakable consequences of an accident at the plant.

l Sincerely, 1

Kris L. Christine

- Enclosures ,

! cc: Senator Olympia Snowe Senator Susan Collins Congressman John E. Baldacci Congressman Thomas Allen U.S. Attorney's Office Attorney General's Office

=8D=A7=A3##################$$$$$$$$$$$%%%%%%%%%^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Dear Mrs. Christine:

This is in response to your letter dated November 25, 1996 to =

Hubert Bell, Inspector General of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory =

Commission. Your letter raised several issues'regarding the =

continued safe operation of Maine Yankee Atomic Power Station and l a = number of matters that may be of interest to my office.

L These = matters have been assigned to Special Agent Joseph G.

Bodensteiner of = my staff. To assist in this effort, please contact special Agent =

Bodensteiner at (301) 415-5940. Your assistance is greatly =

appreciated.

Sincerely,- Robert A. Watkins Acting Assitant Inspector General for Investigations Paul M. Blanch-Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.

West Hartford CT 06117

Tel: 860-236-0326

..en,. ,- . . , . . - - . . . - - , . , , - - - , -- -.. , , - -

1 From PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>

To: WND2. WNP3 ( j az ) , TWD1. TWP4 (gam)

Date: 1/12/97 6:28am i subject: Letter to Collins Forwarded without comment.

l t

subject: 2.206 Sent: 1/11/97 3:22 AM Received: 1/11/97 10:38 PM

! From: XXXXXXXXX6compuserve.com To: PAUL BLANCH, PMBLANCH0ix.netcom.com i

l Paul, If what Dave is contending is true, then doesn't NU have an i obligation under 10 cfr 50.9 to inform the NRC of this error?

l See the following.

! XXXXXXXXXXX l

l l

l

Subject:

Re: Millstone 2.206 Sent: 1/8/97 04:11 PM l Received: 1/8/97 04:39 PM From; diochbaum@ucsusa.org l To: PAUL BLANCH, uunet!IX.NETCOM.COM!PMBLANCH0uunet.uu. net January 8, 1997 Mr. Samuel J. Collins, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 i

L

SUBJECT:

COMMENT ON NRC RESPONSE TO 10 CFR 2.206 PETITION ON MILLSTONE l UNIT 1 REFUELING PRACTICES

Dear Mr. Collins:

By letter dated December 26, 1996, Mr. Frank Miraglia, Jr.

I transmitted the NRC's response to the petition dated August 21, 1995, submitted by Mr. Ernest C. Hadley on behalf of Mr.

George Galatis and We the People, Inc. pursuant to Section a '" ,- -

, i

- -- . - _ - .- . ~ - - - . - . - . . - . - - . - _ - . - _ - . . ..

4 i

2.206 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The-1 petitioners contended, among other things, that refueling i- practices at Northeast Utilities' Millstone Unit 1 facility were not being conducted in accordance within the plant's design and licensing bases.

1 -

i

! I reviewed this response and disagree with the NRC staff's

! conclusion, as stated in Director's Decision 96-23 that "the design of the SFP and related systems at Millstone Unit 1 was adequate to protect public health and safety during full-core 4

offloads." The conclusion is superficial because it relies 'on an incomplete justification by the NRC staff and cannot be reached using good engineering judgement.

As detailed by the petitioners in the public meeting on April 8, ,

~

l ' 1996, in Waterford, Connecticut, on this petition, the licensee i' was offloading irradiated fuel during refueling outages before

[

i the decay time required by the Millstone Unit i licensing bases. The licensee defended that practice during the public i

meeting on the basis of the spent fuel pool water never having i exceeded Technical Specification limits. The NRC staff, in Director's Decision 96-23, discusses spent fuel pool heat

! removal capability in great detail and concludes that it was i sufficient for Millstone Unit l's refueling practices. '

However, the design and licensing bases for decay time have nothing to do with decay heat removal. The decay time is based exclusively on the offsite dose consequences from a postulated fuel handling accident. The radiological analyses for the fuel handling accident assume radionuclide inventories in the dropped

[ irradiated fuel assembly and the irradiated fuel assemblies it

strikes based on the event occurring at the minimum decay time.

i By offloading irradiated fuel assemblies in less than the minimum decay time at Millstone Unit 1, Northeast Utilities invalidated the analytical bases'for the fuel handling accident described in Chapter 15 of the Final  !

Safety Analysis Report. The petitioners provided information  !

i to the NRC staff that irradiated fuel was offloaded on 1 a Millstone Unit 1 as early as half of the required decay time.

l Since radionuclide inventories decrease exponentially with time, halving the decay time could more than double the amount of 4

radioactivity released during a fuel handling accident.

To the best of my knowledge, neither the licensee nor the NRC staff have determined that the 10 CFR 100-limits on radiation dose to the general public would not have been violated had a fuel handling accident occurred at Millstone Unit 1 during irradiated fuel movements before the required decay time. At best, it was an unanalyzed condition that violated the law. At worst, it was an undue risk to the public.

j The NRC staff's reasoning is incomplete, and its conclusion j potentially inaccurate, because it did not evaluate the consequences from the licensee violating the decay time ,

a 1

requirement. The conclusion is accurate only if it can be shown that the offsite dose' consequences from a fuel handling accident at Millstone Unit i under_the actual decay times would have remained a fraction of the 10 CFR 100 limits. The NRC should require that Northeast Utilities evaluate the offsite dose consequences

( from fuel handling accidents during the most limiting case (i.e., the earliest that irradiated fuel was offloaded) at Millstone Unit 1 before reaching a final determination on whether its refueling practices adequately protected public health and safety.

The NRC staff should also determine why it reached a conclusion based on an incomplete evaluation. The petitioner provided the NRC staff with ample documentation on decay time violations.

The design and licensing bases for decay time is clearly described in numerous sources, including the Millstone FSAR, the Standard Review Plan, and the Standard Technical Specifications. It is discomforting that the NRC staff, after 16 months of examining the issues raised in the petition, failed to address the safety consequences from this licensee's repeated violations of the decay time requirement over a 20 year period.

Sincerely, I

David A. Lochbaum Nuclear Safety Engineer cc: Chairman Shirley Ann Jackson United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 Mr. George Mulley

• Assistant Inspector General l United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555 1

Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.

West Hartford CT 06117 Tel: 860-236-0326 Fax: 860-232-9350