ML19259D664

Response by Intervenors to Util 790811 Request for Hearing & Motion Establish Hearing Schedule.Hearings Should Be Held After Study of TMI Repts.Operating Data Should Be Available Certificate of Svc Encl

ML19259D664
Person / Time
Site:	Black Fox
Issue date:	08/27/1979
From:	Farris J FELDMAN, HALL, FRANDEN, REED & WOODWARD
To:
References
NUDOCS 7910260215
Download: ML19259D664 (8)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA e,[ ...

NUCLEAR REGULATOFT COMMISSION , ,

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BEFORE THE ATCMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD j ; 7' N. g In the Matter of the Application of )

Public Service Company of Oklahoma, )

Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. )

and )

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative ) Docket Nos.

) STN 50-556 (Black Fox Units 1 and 2) ) STN 50-557 INTERVENORS' RESPONSE TO APPLICANT'S REQUEST FOR HEARING AND MOTION TO ESTABLISH HEARING SCHEDULE Although the Applicant has accurately characterized Intervenors' position regarding the timing of hearings to assess the relevancy of the Three Mile Island (TMI-2) accident to Black Fox Station (BFS) , this response was deemed appro-priata to enumerate the reasons in support of such position.

First of all, it appears imminently contradictory for the Applicant to state that the nublic interest will be served by an examination of the TMI-2 accident in relation to BFS and then to urge the Board to proceed to conduct hearings when the parties do not have the benefit of the results of at least three ongoing investigations into this very accident. By conducting hearings based upon the Applicant's July 27 submission the Board would in effect be holding that the 7910260

1. Mr. Gallo's letter to the Board dated August 11, 1979.

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President's Commission, the Rogovin Special Inquiry and the NRC Staff's Long Term Recommendations Report will be either unworthy, irrelevant or, at best, superfluous to the Staff's review of Applicant's submission. Intervenors would like to think that these inquiries are not political pacifiers but rather are serious scientific analyses which could lead to important design changes to help prevent other accidents such as TMI-2. To pre-judge the results of these investigations when they may lead ultimately to NRC licensing requirements may only create longer delays and greater expense. If it is in the public interest to hold hearings to examine the lessons of TMI-2, as all parties now agree, then a fortiori such hearings should be full and complete with the benefit of all relevant investigations.

Intervenors have continually asserted in this proceeding that fundameetal design changes are needed to make Black Fox Station safe. That TMI-2 occurred at all might very well suggest to some of these investigations that basic conceptual changes are in fact needed to prevent similar occurrences.

Indeed, as the Applicant admits in its Motion, the President's Commission, has publicly stated already that it expects to recommend sweeping changes in the licensing process.

The Applicant also suggests that neither Intervenors nor the State of Oklahoma would be prejudiced by allowing

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the hearings to proceed because they could always urge that the record be held open pending the various investigations' results. However, the hearing schedule proposed by the Applicant would close the hearings by October 19, 1979, long before any of these investigations are schedelsd for completion.

The State's and Intervenor's arguments to keep the record open during the hearings could offer no better reason than they now have,--i. e. , it is not known what new or additional matters, if any, may be raised by these inquiries; therefore hearings are premature. Hours and perhaps days could be spent in hearings on issues now that could be resolved by these commissions with suggested solutions or recommendations that are acceptable to all parties.

In short, when considering the likelihood of basic design changes, reform of the licensing process and/or safety recommendations acceptable to the parties, postponement of the hearings now may actually result in less overall delay when all the information is in.

In addition to the above very obvious practical reasons for forestalling a hearing pending the results of these studies, there appears a fundamental legal obstacle to a hearing on these issues now. The River Bend decision clearly holds that a " naked promise" or commitment to meet

2. Gulf States Utilities Company (River Bend Station Units 1 & 2) ALAB-444 (Nov. 23, 1977).

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unresolved regulatory requirements is an insufficinet basis upon which a finding of reasonable assurance may be predicated.

Rather, there must be a statement of

. . . the investigative program which has been or will be undertaken with regard to the problem, the program's anticipated time-span, whether (and if so what) interim measures have been devised for dealing with the problem pending the completion of the investigation, and what alternative courses of action might be availagle should the program not produce the envisaged result The fact that the Staff's own Long Term Recommendations will not even be promulgated by the Applicant's suggested hearing schedule makes any such finding impossible. Indeed, the River Bend decision clearly contemplates the furnishing of all relevant information prior to evidentiary hearings.

[T]he interests of the staff -- as well as those of the boards and other parties -- will be best served by insuring that the information (to the extent available) is at hand before the evidentiary hearing on radio-logical health and safety matters commences. Other-wise, there will be a hi progress of the hearing.gh[potential for delay in the Emphasis supplied.]

Finally, it ,jpears that BFS will be the first nuclear power plant for which a construction permit (CP) will be considered following TMI-2. For the Board to proceed to reach a decision on the BFS CP without the benefit of all

3. River Bend at 27.

4. Id at 28.

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serious studies which may bear on its ability to be cons tructed without creating an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety would be the worst sort of injustice to the people of Oklahoma. Other plants in earlier licensing stages will certainly be constructed utilizing all of the knowledge gained from studying TMI-2. Intervenors submit that the people of Oklahoma are entitled to no l'ss.

Respectfully submitted, FELDMAN, HALL, FRANDEN, REED & WOODARD By 70seph R. Farris Attorneys for Intervenors 816 Enterprise Building Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103 (918) 583-7129 August 27, 1979 1212'005

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UNITED STATES OF 7.MERICA NUCLEAR REGULATC) J ')MMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of the Application of )

Public Service Company of Oklahoma, )

Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. )

and )

Western Farmers Electric Cooperative ) Docket Nos.

) STN 50-556 (Black Fox Units 1 and 2) ) STN 50-557 CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Joseph R. Farris, one of the attorneys for Citizens Action for Safe Energy (C . A. S . E . ) , certify that copies of "Intervenors' Response to Applicant's Request for Hearing and Motion to Establish Hearing Schedule" have been served in the above captioned matter on the following by United States mail, postage prepaid, this 27th day of August, 1979.

Sheldon J. Wolfe, Esq.

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Mr. Frederick J. Shon Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Dr. Paul W. Purdom Director, Environmental Studies Group Drexel University 32nd and Chestnut Streets Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104 L. Dow Davis, Esq.

Office of the Executive Legal Director United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 1212 006

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Amdrew T. Dalton, Esq.

Attorney at Law 1437 South Main Street Room 302 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119 Mrs. Ilene Younghein 3900 Cashion Place Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73112 Mrs. Carrie Dickerson Citizens Action for Safe Energy P. O. Box 924 Claremore, Oklahoma 74017 Joseph Gallo, Esq.

Isham, Lincoln & Beale 1050 17th Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036 Michael I. Miller, Esq.

Isham, Lincoln & Beale One First National Plaza, Suite 4200 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Paul M. Murphy, Esq.

Isham, Lincoln & Beale One First National Plaza, Suite 4200 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Mr. Maynard Human General Manager Western Farmers Electric Cooperative P. O. Box 429 Anadarko, Oklahoma 73005 Mr. Gerald F. Diddle Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc.

P. O. Box 754 Springfield, Missouri 65801 Mr. Lawrence Burrell Rt. 1, Box 197 Fairview, Oklahoma 73737

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Dr. M. J. Robinson Black & Veaten P. O. Box 8405 Kansas City, Missouri 64114 1212 007

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Secretary (Orig . and 3)

Attn: Chief, Docketing & Service Section United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20555 Mr. Vaughn L. Conrad Public Service Company of Oklahoma P. O. Box 201 Tulsa, Oklahoma 74102 Mr. T. N. Ewing Public service Company of Oklahoma P. O. Box 201

!2lsa, Oklahoma 74102 Hon. Charles Rogers Assistant Attorney General State of Oklahoma State Capi.tol Building Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105 DATED: August 27, 1979.

I et i N sepF R. Farris i212 008