ML20072E276

Forwards Ltr from Constituent Re Matter Concerning Nrc. Requests That Response Be Forwarded Dirrectly to Correspondent

ML20072E276
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas
Issue date:	08/02/1994
From:	Mason B PRESIDENT OF U.S. & EXECUTIVE OFFICES
To:	NRC OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY (SECY)
Shared Package
ML20072E225	List: ML20072E276
References
NUDOCS 9408220180
Download: ML20072E276 (5)

Text

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OFFICE OF TH E VICE PR ESIDENT WAS HI N GTON MEMORANDUM DATE:

August 2, 1994 TO:

Secretary of the Commission Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.

20555 Enclosed is a letter from a constituent concerning a matter related to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

This information was sent to the office of Vice President Gore.

On behalf of the Vice President, I ain forwarding this material with the request that the issues be addressed in an appropriate and expeditious manner.

An acknowledgement of receipt and a notification of this referral has been sent.

Please respond directly to the correspondent.

No reply to this office is necessary.

Thank you in advance for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely, c

i Bill Mason Director of Correspondence for the Vice President i

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Vice President Al Gore Shaun Stenshol The White House P.O.

Box 684694 Washington DC 20500 Austin TX 78768-4694

Dear Al,

Enclosed you will find a copy of a letter I'm sending to members of the U.S.

House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce and a news article which recently appeared in the Houston Chronicle.

It is my sincerest wishes that something can finally be done about the dangerous South Texas Nuclear Plant.

It's well established that the plant is not safe nor financially viable.

I hope you can be of some help.

Sincerely, Shaun Stenshol

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5/8/94 Representative John Dingell Shaun Stenshol U.S.

House of Reps.

P.O.

Box 684694 Washington DC 20515 Austin TX 78768-4694 re: South Texas Nuclear Plant investigation.

Dear Rep. Dingell:

I'm very pleased that Congress has finally decided to check into the numerous safety and mismanagement problems at the South Texas Nuclear Plant (STNP), which is operated by Houston Lighting and Power (HL&P).

There are many of us who live downwind of STNP that are very concerned about the potentially serious consequences of our poorly run nuclear plant and the failure of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to act properly on complaints by whistle blowers.

It seems to me that while your Subcommittee is investigating allegations involving safety deficiencies, worker harassment and intimidation, document falsification and other critical plant operations, it would be in the public interest to shut down STNP.

In 1987 the Government Accountability Project (GAP), a group that provides legal help to whistle-blowers, investigated several whistle-blower allegations at STNP.

They presented their findings of over 700 allegations to the NRC with the hope that NRC would conduct a painstaking investigation before the plant received its full-power license.

The NRC did investigate what became known as the GAP allegations.

And people who prepared the GAP case say the investigation was a mockery, a waste of NRC's last and best chance to see that the plant was built correctly.

But the NRC is also under investigation.

And that doesn't surprise me.

They have shown 'No Real Concern" about the serious problems at STNP.

I have been to two NRC public hearings (which are only open for public observation, not public input) on STNP and have listened to Joe Callan (NRC Region IV Administrator) talk about how mistakes that continue to occur at STNP should not be happening because of all the redundant barriers that.are built into the plant.

And after he gets done slapping HL&P on the wrist for their wrong doings, he gives them the okay to continue business as usual.

I get the feeling that NRC is just a puppet agency.to the nuclear industry.

We can't just sit by and watch another Three Mile Island or Chernobyl happen..Do everything in your power to shut down STNP at least while you're conducting the investigation.

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HL&P is going to do everything in their power to keep the plant on-line, regardless of safety.

As a recent quote from Graham Painter, chief press spokesperson for HL&P, would

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indicate:

"I believe the (STNP) plant will operate well.

That's the line and we're sticking to it" : Houston Business Journal, March 21 1994.

Sincerely, Shaun Stenshol cc: Members of the Subcommittee on Oversight

& Investigations of the Committee on Energy and Commerce: John Dingell, Mich. (Chairperson),

Sherwood Brown, Ohio, Marjorie Margolies-Mezvinsky, Penn.,

Henry Waxman, Cal., Cardiss Collins, Ill., Ron Wyden, Oregon, John Bryant, Tex., Dan Schaefer, Colo., Carlos Moorhead, Cal., Joe Barton, Tex., Fred Upton, Mich.,

U.S.

Rep. Jake Pickle, U.S.

Senator Phil Gramm, U.S.

Senator Kay Hutchison, President Bill Clinton,

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A subcommittee staff member, who asked not to be named, said the allegations 5ee STNP on Page 35A.

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