ML20077J528

Responds to Request for Comments on Unresolved Offsite Emergency Planning Issues.Hearing in Jan 1984 Re Planning Procedures for Schools Recommended If Hearing Deemed Necessary

ML20077J528
Person / Time
Site:	Zimmer
Issue date:	08/11/1983
From:	Wetterhahn M CINCINNATI GAS & ELECTRIC CO., CONNER & WETTERHAHN
To:	Frye J, Hooper F, Livingston M Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
NUDOCS 8308160489
Download: ML20077J528 (4)

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John H. Frye, III Dr. Frank F. Hooper Chairman, Atomic Safety Atomic Safety and and Licensing Board Licensing Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Commission Washington, D.C. 20555 Washington, D.C. 20555' Dr. M. Stanley Livingston 1005 Calle Largo Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 In the Matter of The Cincinnati Gas & Electric Company, et al.

(Wm. H. Zimmer Nuclear Power Station)

Docket No. 50-358 Gentlemen:

You have asked to be advised as to proceeding on the offsite emergency planning issues which remain to be re-solved in the captioned proceeding in light of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board's decision in this case.

In response to ALAB-727, the Applicants have been actively engaged in an engineering study regarding the design of a radio system to provide additional communica-tions for school systems in the plume exposure Emergency Planning Zone. The system design is finalized and ready for acceptance. ,

l The proposed system will employ a centrally located '

radio repeater station which will serve all of the school systems within the EPZ. The location ' chosen for this repeater is a hilltop near the Zimmer Nuclear Powel Station where the Applicants have provided a secure commun.' cations 8308160409 830811 PDR ADOCK 05000358 PDR G ],

John H. Fryo, III Dr. M. StenlGy Livingston

, Dr. Frank F. Hooper August 11, 1983 Page 2 building, a 420 ft. communications tower for the antenna, and a standby power plant to assure reliable operation.

Each of the schools that are part of the system will be equipped with a radio control station located in the admin-istration office. Any of these schools can then transmit a radio signal to the central repeater station which will automatically relay the message to any other school within the system with which communications is desired. Similarly, any school can transmit and receive radio messages through -

.I the repeater station with any of the school buses that will be equipped with mobile radio units. Selected schools or other appropriate locations will be equipped with paging encoders which will transmit altering tones over the same repeater station to signal pocket radio pagers provided to bus drivers and alternates. Following the alert signal, a voice message can be transmitted to the paged drivers giving them explicit instructions. As part of the same system, additional control stations will be installed in county emergency operating centers to provide emergency notifica-tion to the school administrators and monitor receivers will be provided to coordinate activity with other radio systems.

Radio frequencies for school bus communications are difficult to obtain almost anywhere in the country due to the increased demand for communications of all types and the limited frequency spectrum available. The Applicants will petition the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") for a waiver of its Rules and Regulations to permit licensing of this radio system on a pair of clear channel frequencies.

All of the. schools in the EPZ will share the same pair of radio frequencies working through the single repeater station, but each school district will have a unique tone squelch frequency so they will not have to listen to traffic of a neighboring district unless they choose to do so. _This-means that radio traffic cannot be carried on by all school districts in the EPZ simultaneously through the repeater station, but the design engineers have stated that this should be no problem considering the number of schools and buses involved in the system.

A search is presently being conducted by the Applicants of frequencies allocated to other radio services to find a clear pair of frequencies in the area concerned. The Applicants are a' s o contacting the coordinators of fre-quencies in these ,ther radio services to obtain clearance for their use. Once this is obtained, an application for a I

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John H. Fryo, III Dr. M. Stanley Livingston Dr. Frank F. Hooper August 11, 1983 Page 3.

license to operate the system together with the petition for the rule waiver will be filed with the FCC. Prior dis-cussions have been held between the Applicant and the FCC regarding the proposed system so problems are not anticipat-ed in this phase of the project. Upon issuance of the radio license, radio equipment can be purchased, installed and tested.

Estimated dates to complete this work are as follows:

1.

Obtain frequency coordination - September, 1983

2. Obtain radio license - November, 1983

3. Receive delivery of radio equipment built to order - January, 1984

4. Complete installation and testing of the system -

March, 1984 A meeting was held on June 30, 1983 with the involved school systems to explain the operation of the proposed system. Meetings are being scheduled with individual school systems to discuss the specifics of the radio system and the modification of the existing school procedures to reflect the new hardware and to address the matter of bus driver response. Methods of assuring sufficient drivers are being tailored to the needs of each school system determined in conjunction with that specific school system and may include increasing the number of substitutes, training drivers at schools and using outside bus drivers. Representatives of the interested intervenors were in attendance at the June 30, 1983 meeting and are being invited to participate, on a trial basis, in the upcoming meetings and revision of the procedures. The school procedures are being revised over i

the summer months, with completion expected during the fall.

While we hope that no hearing will be sought as a result of the involvement of representatives of the inter-ested intervenors, we believe that, if necessary, one to j consider the emergency planning procedures for the schools l may be held as early as January, 1984. -This should allow sufficient time for NRC Staff and FEMA review and the framing of any contentions by the intervenors. We, of course, recognize that the procedures would not be finalized

3 John H.-Frya, III Dr. M. StOnisy Livingston Dr. Frank F. Hooper August 11, 1983 Page 4

. until after confirmation of the adequacy of the communications system by testing.

Sincerely, Mark J. Wetterhahn Counsel for the Applicants .

MJW:sdd cc: Service List 4

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