ML20153E634

Responds to Supporting Petitions Submitted by Commonwealth of PA Requesting Hearing Prior to Restart of Plant.Commission Has Concluded That Discretionary,Formal Adjudicatory Proceedings Unnecessary

ML20153E634
Person / Time
Site:	Peach Bottom
Issue date:	04/06/1988
From:	Zech L NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
To:	Casey R PENNSYLVANIA, COMMONWEALTH OF
Shared Package
ML20153E639	List: ML20153E634 ML20153E728
References
NUDOCS 8805100068
Download: ML20153E634 (1)

Text

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• <j UNITED STAT;'s /

E[} m Io,'g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D. C. 20555 g.' C 3  !

• / April 6, 1988 CH AIRM AN The Honorable Robert P. Casey Governor of Pennsylvania Office of the Governor Harrisburg, PA 17105

Dear Governor Casey:

I am responding to your February 4, 1988 letter in which you express your support fnr petitions submitted by the Comonwealth of Pennsylvania's Genecal Coumel requesting,)under Section 189a of the Atomic Energy Ac restari. of Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Units 2 and 3. The Commonwealth's January 22, 1988 petition is being referred to the Chairman of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, who will appoint a licensing board to determine whether that petition has identified issues coming within the scope of the license amendments on which a hearing is requested. (See attached Comission Order of April 1,1988).

With respect to the request nade in the January 22, 1988 petition and in an earlier petition dated November 20, 1987, for discretionary hearings on ratters beyond the scope of the proposed license amendments, the Commission does not believe that formal adjudicatory hearings are needed to further explore the origins or nature of the problems the Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO) has experienced at Peach Bottom. These are now the subject not only of NRC's inspection reports but of the recent report of the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. The findings of these reports are addressed by the licensee in its restart plan, Part II of which was received by NRC on February 12, 1988. The Comission will seek comments from the public and interested states on Part II as it did with respect to Part I. We believe that the Agency's non-adjudicatory processes have already provided and will continue to provide the close attention to, and public interaction with, the restart issues that are the basic objectives of your request for a formal hearing. Therefore, the Comission has concluded that discretionary, formal adjudicatory proceedings are unneces-sary, and we decline to adopt your sucgestion for such proceedings.

The Comission shares your concern that adequate corrective actions to PEC0's well documented problems at Peach Bottom be taken and that the views of the public and state and local officials be taken into account in the process. I can assure you that the Comission will not permit PECO to restart the Peach Bottom reactors until it is satisfied that PECO's restart plan provides reasonable assurance that the public health and safety will be adequately protected and that PECO ranagement has the commitment and ability to implement the plan, 8805100068 880406 Sincerely,  ;

PDR COMMS NRCC 0

CORRESPONDENCE PDR h l l

prA W. (

Lando W. Zech, r,

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Enclosure:

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