ML20134E553

Express Appreciation That NRC Has Ack Seriousness of Most Recently Discovered Problem at Plant by Requiring Root Cause Analysis & NRC Approval Prior to Restarting

ML20134E553
Person / Time
Site:	Maine Yankee
Issue date:	12/20/1996
From:	Herz M AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	Shirley Ann Jackson, The Chairman NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20134E546	List: ML20134E544 ML20134E553
References
NUDOCS 9702060348
Download: ML20134E553 (1)

Text

- 1

. l i Head Tide

• Alna

• ME 04535 (2071586-5443 (Phone & FAX)

December 20, 1996 l

Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson l Chairwoman

[ U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission .

l Washington, DC 20555

Dear Dr. Jackson:

We are extremely pleased that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acknowledged the seriousness of the most recently discovered problems at the Maine Yankee plant by requiring a root cause analysis and NRC approval prior to restarting.

Citizens of Maine are increasingly concerned over the almost weekly discoveries j of unsafe enough to conditions at the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant that are serious require shutdowns.

It is as though one need only look to find a

safety-related problem at this installation.

l Here in Maine our concern is that there hasn't been enough looking yet.

Assurances by President Frizzle that safety is a major concern do not square with j the fact that safety problems only seem to surface when outside inspectors look or direct Maine Yankee personnel to look for them. i l

That being tha case, is the NRC planning to look or at least have Maine Yankee staff look at all wiring related to plant safety? What about looking at other systems that were not evaluated during the recent ISA inspection?

From the events of the past year, it is apparent that Maine Yankee management does not appear to have the will to direct their staff % look for problems without outside direction. It is the mandate of the NRC to be the oversight mechanism for compliance with regulations. Please use your oversight authority to protect Maine citizens by requiring that Maine Yankee look at all of its l

safety systems, determine they are in compliance and obtain NRC approval prior to restarting.

Sin r ly,

\ / /

J .

Mi" ael' erz, Ph.D.

c: enator Olympia Snowe Senator Susan Collins Congressman John Baldacci Congressman Tom Allen Attorney General Andrew Ketterer U.S. Attorney's Office i

Hubert Miller, Region I NRC Administrator

, 9702060348 970203 PDR ADOCK 05000309

( P PDR