ML19274G173

Forwards 790626 Ltr to Philippine President F Marcos Re Access to Info & Public Participation in Review of Safety of Operating Reactor

ML19274G173
Person / Time
Site:	05000574
Issue date:	06/26/1979
From:	Hayes P CONCERNED CITIZENS REACTOR EXPORT REVIEW BOARD
To:	NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
References
NUDOCS 7908300340
Download: ML19274G173 (4)

Text

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$ Concerned Citizens Reactor Expor r-o g Review Board, t #7 Y

, c/o Energy and Resources Group, The Commissioners, 9 3Gnch(Y)'y

, 100, T-4, U.C. Berkeley, Nuclear Regulatory Commissi'ohk _ O Ca. 94720.

Washington DC. >c as- 1)umecq Expcnr. :mPcn IIDCOUQ=

June 26 1979

Dear. Commissioners,

NRC PUBLIC DOCUMENT ROOM Enclosed is a letter to President Marcos concerning access to information and public parti:ipation in the recently established Philippines review of the safety of operadng the Bataan nuclear reactor. As you will note, the letter states a number of concerns about the nature of the Filipino proceedings. There is already sufficient evidence to indicate that the Philippines review is not independent, competent, comprehensive, or credible. These instances and irregularities preclude the use of the Filipino review as an adequate environmental assessment under the NEPA requirement as outlined in President Carter's Executive Order concerning NEPA and reactor exports. Nothing less than a full-scale health and safety review in accordance with U.S. regulatory procedure and standards, and conducted with open public hearings with full access to information, will suffice, This is especially so in light of the American moratorium on reactor licensing. It would be hypocritical and inhumane for you to license exports when domesti.c licensi.ng is grounded.

We have established the Conerned Citizens Reactor Export Review Board to contribute information concerning the hazards of operating the Bataan nuclear reactor. The Board wishes to presents its information to a public hearing on the export licence at the earliest opportunity.

We have also brought Filipinos resident close to the plant and formerly employed on che reactor site to the U.S. to present the case of the local population directly affected by the plant and evidence of irregula-ities in construction techniques.

You cannot afford to ignore these information resources in the aftermath of 3-Mile Island. We request your early reply.

Thankyou, 2 '

'0Vd J '14' Yours faithfully, 7908 3 00 $ -

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June 26 1979 President Ferdinand Marcos,

Manila, The Philippines.

Dear President Marcos,

The news that you have postponed the construction of the Westinghouse nuclear reactor at Bataan in the aftermath of 3-Mile Island was welcomed by all those who have followed the history of this project.

The Campaign for a Nuclear Free Philippines has consistently argued that the health and safety of the operation of this plant is unproven.

No competent and comprehensive regulatory review of the design has been conducted independent of the plant's promotor, Westinghouse. It is therefore most timely that you should have instigated a review of the health and safety dimensions of the plant.

Less welcome, however, is the news that Senator Lorenzo Tanada, the person you requested to head the review board, felt obliged to refuse to serve in that capacity because of the graf t and repression which have characterized the regulatory procedure for this plant in the past. Our initial euphoria was tempered by three facts which emerged after your announcement

1. That Westinghouse began to pressure directly ths U.S. NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) as long ago as May 1979 quoting your intent to void the contract as reason for swift approval of the export licence they so desperately seek. We doubt that these moves were not linked to the current review process which you have initiated in the Phil-ippines. Indeed, we wonder if your review was not established with the concurrence of Westinghouse in order to improve the image of the plant, and to pressure the NRC to expedite the export licence in light of your threat to US prestige and taxpayers' dollars which subsidize the export?

2. That you are allowing a bare fortnight to complete the review, a process which normally takes the US NRC at least 6 person-years of professional time, and extensive public participation and opportunity for review of all pertinent technical information. Further, that Filipino citizens fear the consequences of appearing at the review because of the past repression visited upon critics of the reactor--including arbitrary arrest, torture, and possibly execution (we refer to the case of Ernesto Nazareno, a former worker on the reactor site who disapoeared last June). And finally, that key documents such a; the construction permit and the IAEA Safety Mission Report have not been made available for public review. This notion contradicts any notion of fair hearing of the critics of the reactor. A two-week public relations exercise cannot serve as an adequate environmental assessment for an export licence for a reactor threatened by seismic and volcaaic hazards ,

without a US " reference" plant, and with unique problems of proximity to millions of malnourished ceasants who could not be evacuated in the case of a "300-Hundred Mile Island.

3. That you established a similar " review" of the alleged corruption surrounding the reactor deal in February 1973, which has never filed a report publicly and appears to have died prematurely. 2032 247

. page 2 President Ferdinand Marcos June 26 1979 Nevertheless, we recognise with the US NRC that "Many countries currently embarking on nuclear power programs al~ hough concerned about health and safety matters, lack the technical and management experience and expertise rq' quired to establish and staff an indigenous safety org-anization." This opinion applies to the Philippines Atomic Energy Commission as admitted by its head commissioner Librato Ibe when he wrote to the US NRC requesting help in reviewing the Preliminary Site Investigation Report, stating that PAEC does not have "the death of technical expertise nor breadth of experience" to eval.uate the report itself. Furthermore, concerned Filipino citizens from Sataan have requested that we intervene in the review on their behalf with technical information--a mandate we intend to fulfill.

According, we have established the Concerned Citizens Reactor Export Review Board, composed of distinguished Americans with skills pertinent to your review. In addition, a number of prominent specialists have offered their services in a consultant capacity to assist your government in the review of the reactor. A list of these persons is attached.

We therefore seeks

1. Access to all information necessary to conduct an impartial and thorough analysis of the hazards of operating this plant.

2. The right to participate in the Philippines review on behalf of Filipino citizens who have requested our assistance in presenting their case against the operation of the plant.

Unless these rights are granted, the credibility.of your review will be irrevocably damaged. Your rejection of the services offered by these experts vould be at the peril cf the health and safety of all Filipinos.

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Yours sincerely, J

Peter ayes Concerned Citizens Reactor Excort Review Board c/o Energy and Resources Group, 100 T-4, University of California at Berkeley, Ca. 94720.

U.S.a.

2032 2cg attachment: list of persons

' J.R. Shea, " Health and Safety Considerations in NRC Reactor Export Licensing and Nuclear Assistance Programs," NRC memo, Wash DC July 3 1978, p

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SEdiBERS OF THE CONCERNED CITIZENS REACTOR EXPORT REVIEW BCARD

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Dr. John Gefman, health physicipt specialising in radiation.

Professor Leonard Toss , Boalt Law School, U. C. Berkeley.

Carol Ruth-Silver, Supervisor, San Francisco City Government.

Reverend Lloyd Wake, Chairperson, Pacific Center for Theology and Strategies (Berkeley); Ninister, Glide Memorial Church.

Elizabeth Walker, American Friends Service Committee, religious observer.

David Brower, President, Friends of the Earth U.S. and International.

David Jenkins, International Longshoremen and Workers ' Union.

Dr. Walden Bello, Conservation and Resource Studies , U. C. Berkeley.

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RESOURCE PERSONS AVAILABLE IN ANCONSULTANT CAPACITY TO THE EXPORT REVIEW BOARD .

Jacob Sherr, public interest lawyer with Natural Resources Defence Council, Wash DC.

Professor Frank Von Hippel, Center for Energy and Environmental Studies, Princeton University, specialising in reactor safety and accident response.

Dr. Dan Pollard, Union of Concer;'.cd Scientists , Wash DC.

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