ML19274E656

Suppl Brief of Intervenors,Citizens Association for Sound Energy.Aslab Should Reconsider Class Nine Category Events as Unresolved Generic Environ Issues in Light of Admissions Re WASH-1400.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML19274E656
Person / Time
Site:	Black Fox
Issue date:	03/06/1979
From:	Dalton A DALTON, A.T.
To:
References
NUDOCS 7904090416
Download: ML19274E656 (5)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING APPEAL BOARD IN THE MATTER OF )

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OKLAHOMA, ASSOCIATED ELEC- )

TRIC COOPERATIVE, INC., ) pop"my AND WESTERN FARMERS ) ,

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ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE, INC.,) . g3 p. 3 (Black Fox Station, Units '

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SUPPLEMENTAL BRIEF OF INTERVENORS Intervenors have raised issues concerning the Class Nine Category of events. In part, the consideration by the Appeal Board of the ASLB refusal to consider such events has been postponed. (Intervenors' Request to Defer Exception 113).

However, Intervenors also have contended that the ALAB has not complied with the requirements of Gulf States Utilities Company, ALAB-444, p. 2) . See Exception 112.

The 'ES F and the environmental record do not consider Class Nine events. FES, Chap. 7. The apparent reason is that the matter is covered by WASH-1400. (FES, p. 7-2; FES,

p. 7-4, ref. 1& 2.) The WASH-1400 references are all that are given.

The Class Nine event is also referred to as a generic environmental issue. See, TAP A-33, NUREG-0510, and NUREG-0371.

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4 On page 7-2 of the FES, the following statement is made.

"As with all . Tow information developed which might have an effect or the health and safety of the public, the results of these studies will be assessed on a timely basis within the Regulatory process on generic or specific bases as may be warranted."

The state of the record is now that the ASLB has not considered, in the slightest, Class Nine events. Any rationale for this position has been withdrawn. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues Policy Statement on Reactor Safety Study and Review by Lewis Panel, U.S. - NRC, January 19, 1979.

The River Bend decision compels the ASLB to consider unresolved generic studies. This the ASLB has not done.

In summary, the basis, such as it was, for refusal to consider Class Nine events has been totally repudiated by the Commission. Second, the ASLB has failed to abide by this Board's order to consider unresolved generic issues.

The proposed annex to Appendix D of 10 CFR Part 50 is insufficient to excuse compliance with NEPA. This proposed innex is merely a statement of what the Commission once proposed.

The proposal is only a general statement of intended policy. The policy itself has not been adopted through rule making or adjudication. Hence it does not have the force of law. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. v. F.P.C., 506 F.2d 33, 38 (D.C. Cir. 1974).

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The record is clearly inconsistent with NEPA's mandate to comply to "the fullest extent possible" with 1

comprehen.^*ve and objective treatment of the issues.

It is impossible to claim compliance with NEPA in the face of Commission language such as, "It agrees that the peer review process followed^in publishing WASH-1400 was inadequate and that proper peer review is fundamental to making sound technical decisions."

"...In particular, in light of the Review Group's conclusions on accident probabilities, the Commission does not regard as reliable the Reactor Safety Study's numerical estimate of the overall risk of reactor accident."

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Issues Policy Statement on Reactor Safety Study and Review by Lewis Panel, NRC, January 19, 1979.

Finally, there is no technical basis for concluding that the probability of a Class Nine accident is remote thereby justifying exclusion from review. The Annex to Appendix D simply deems the likelihood of a Class Nine event to be improbable. It is against this very attitude that NEPA is intended to operate.

No one disputes that the potential consequences of major accidents are enormous. No one would construct a nuclear facility if the risk of realizing these consequences is unacceptable.

1 See, generally Intervenors' Brief, Proposition I.

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Regardless of what is any one person's or group's perception of what is " acceptable", we now know that the previously espoused probability of experiencing these consequences is " unreliable." There is no excuse for failure to consider Class Nine events. The admissions regarding WASH-1400, together with the fact that it alone is the basis for not considering Class Nine events, require consideration of Class Nine events.

1. ,-1979.

Dated this day of

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ANDREW TM DA>LTON , JR.

Attorney for CASE, Intervenor 1437 South Main Street, Room 302 Tulsa, OK 74119

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J CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing instrument was mail d, poet ge prepaid, to the following this ~7' day of , , . d A p, , 1978.

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Isham, Lincoln & Beale Mr. Joseph Gallo Attention: Mr. Paul Murphy 1050 ll7th S treet .N.W.

One First National Plaza, 42nd Floor Chicago, IL 60603 I h n ton, D.C. 2003L Mrs. Carric Dickerson, Chairman, C.A.S.E.

P.O. Box 924 Claremore, OK 74017 Secretary Attention: Chief, Docketing & Service Section United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Chief Hearing Counsel Office of the Executive Legal Director United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Alan S. Rosenthal, Chairman Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Dr. W. Reed Johnson Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Jerome E. Sharfman Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board

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U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Mr. T. N. Ewing PSO, Box 201 Tulsa, OK 74102 Mrs. Ilene H. Younghein 3900 Cashion Place Mr. Richard S. Salzman Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112 ASLAB U. S. NRC Mr. Vaugh Conrad, PSO Washington, D.C. 20555 P. O. Box 201 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74102

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