ML20027E110

Responds to Pp Steptoe 820412 Ltr Re Affidavit of D Bridenbaugh Concerning Drilling Practices at Facilities. Affidavit Encouraged NRC to Investigate Structural Review W/O Promoting OL Issuance

ML20027E110
Person / Time
Site:	LaSalle
Issue date:	04/14/1982
From:	Fahner T, Goodie J ILLINOIS, STATE OF
To:	Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Shared Package
ML20027A786	List: ML20027A790 ML20027A796 ML20027A808 ML20027A816 ML20027A817 ML20027E090 ML20027E102 ML20027E107 ML20027E109 ML20027E110 ML20027E133 ML20027E146
References
FOIA-82-328 NUDOCS 8211120071
Download: ML20027E110 (2)

Text

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t' T,*.q'qatr7 TYRONE C. FAHNER I- - M--

ATTORNEY GENER Al. k _[D I f,* ,

STATE OF" ILLINOIS .

TELEPHONC ISO NORTH LA SALLE STREET .-

l 793 350s CHICAGO 60601

,hg l f DEN.Od ~ lFiledib EXPRESS MAIL '

April 14, 1982 c o ', vs tY letTd NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION h>0 0 In the Matter of: ) [c c ff A b 5

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COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY ) Docket Nos. 50-373 cf n 4iM/*

• LaSalle County Nuclear

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50-374 g,f,62f,T Generating Station, Unit 1. ) fSgpr '

and Unit 2 ) 7I. lE'dd job g d, a

Mr. Harold Denton Director of Nuclear Reactor [>#ca to '

Regulation d,2 [7#

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9720 Norfolk Avenue sT Bethesda, Maryland 20814 3

Dear Mr. Denton:

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Pic [<'d of This letter is written in response to a-1etter of April 12,J lp9.D' o.t 1932 in the above-entitled matter by Philip P. Steptoe, an attorney for Commonwealth Edison Company. Mr. Steptoe's letter 7)g characterizes certain statements made by Dale Bridenbaugh on d, Acril 8, 1982 concerning his affidavit relating to drilling '*f practices at the LaSalle County Nuclear Station. The transcript of Mr. Bridenbaugh's remarks is attached to Mr. Steptoe'sletter,hp Your attention is directed to the actual words of Mr. Bridenbaugh,p both in his testimony and in his affidavit of March 17, 1982.

Mr. Bridenbaugh never said that his affidavit "did not justify deferring startup testing" for LcSalle. (Quoting Mr. Steptoe's

letter.) He was asked by Edis::.'s attorney if he wrote the affidavit to defer fuel loadin and low power testing. He an-swered that his view of the affidavit was to enc 6urage the NRC b 8211120071 820917

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PDR FOIA STEPTOE82-328 PDR kPE 1 5 8

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8 Mr. Harold D:nton Page Two s

to investigate the structural review that had or had not been completed, (by Edison) without particularly " tying it to an operating license." In that context Mr. Bridenba, ugh said, "my view of that affidavit was not to defer startup testing.'

He went on to say that the NRC's investigation sh'ould be per-

' formed before the plant was made operational because of the problems that arise after the plant becomes radioactive.

Mr. Bridenbaugh's affidavit of March 17, 1982 states at page 5:

When fuel loading occurs and low power operation is possible, access to certain areas of the plant, in-cluding portions of primary containment and reactor building must be controlled and/or minimized and the free movement . : . by investigatory personnel could be restricted.

The plant will become radioactive when low power operation begins for startup testing. Edison has requested a license authorizing fuel loading and low power testing. The People of Illinois have asked the NRC to defer issuing such a license, until the NRC makes findings as to the potential structural impact of drilling practices which occurred during the construc-tion of the LaSalle plant. If, as Mr. Steptoe's letter states, it will take many weeks after license issuance for fuel load to actually be accomplished, then there is no apparent urgency to issue the license weeks ahead of time.

We are confident that you and your staff will accurately evaluate the statements of Mr. Bridenbaugh, rather than relying on the characterization of those statements by counsel for Commonwealth Edison, when you decide on the '-'issuance of the license in question.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Sincerely,

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TYRONE C. FAHNER Attorney General State or Illinois BY: O d.tl M 4-Judith S. GooBie

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AssNstant Attorney General Environmental Control Division 2 l 188 W. Randolph St., Suite 2315 l Chicago, Illinois 60601 (312) 793-2491 JSG:bl cc: Philip P. Steptoe James Keppler A

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