ML20042B397
| ML20042B397 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Crane  |
| Issue date: | 03/22/1982 |
| From: | Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Mcclure J SENATE, ENERGY & NATURAL RESOURCES |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20042B391 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8203250276 | |
| Download: ML20042B397 (5) | |
Text
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UNITED STATES O
4 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 3
i WASHINGTON, D. ; 20655 e
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March 22, 1982 CHAIRMAN The Honorable James A. McClure, Chairman Committee o.n Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate
.negg-Washington, D. C.
20510 5"-
Dear Mr. Chairman:
'82 Mn 22 99 gg Last October the Nuclear Regulatory Commission provided testimony to you on nuclear accident cl.eanup.. insurance legislation -(S-1606) introduced by 54nator'Heinz.
In that testimony we supported prompt steps to ov'e'rcome the finan-l cial problems which are hindering the cleanup of the Three l
Mile Island, Unit.2 (TMI-2) nuclear power plant.
I It is now three years since the TMI-2 accident and the financial problems, if anything, appear further from solu-tion than they did last fall.
My fellow Commissioners and I
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therefore want to emphasize our belief that the c.leanup of
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TMI-2 must be accelerated.
The potential for. slow degrada-tion of containment integrity and equipment capability plus
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the increasing concern for an unexpected release of radio.
,.nJ active material argue-that, Ys a last resort, it is time' for.
the Federal Government'to taki a:more~ aggressive role.
A more detailed explanation-of our concerns is enclosed.
Our purpose in pointing this out to you is to ask that you support: (1) establishing some form of funding that will guarantee a rapid cleanup; and (2) DOE plans to take posses-sion and dispose of the entire damaged reactor core as soon as technically feasible.
We believe greater Federal. participation in assuring finan-cial viability'is a prerequisite to an acceptably rapid program.
If the owners of the damaged reactor go bankrupt; the cleanup will still have to be done and the entire job and associated costs may fall upon the Federal Government.
That possibility has recently become more likely.
Restart of the undamaged Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island is the pri'ncipal element in the owner.'s plan to finance th'e cleanup of Unit 2.
Serious new technical problems, however, now indicate a 6-12 month or longer delay before Unit 1 could be in a position to generate any revenue.
This setba'ck adds a new degree of urgency to the increased Federal involvement we are recommending for clean up of TMI-2.
8203250276 820322 PDR ADOCK 0500028 U
r The Honorable James A. McClure 2
We support DOE's decision to accept and manage all the high-level waste, i ncluding taking possession of the entire core of the damaged reactor for research and eventual disposal.
For our part, we in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are committed to a timely as well as thorough execution of our
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responsibility to regulate the cleanup of TMI-2 in the interests of public health and safety.
Commissioner Gilinsky adds that he agrees with the Commis-sion's statement regarding the pressing need to assure adequate financing for a prompt cleanup of TMI-2.
- However, he thinks the Commission should limit its advice to health and safety questions and leave it to the President and the Congress to strike a balance among the competing equities of the licensee, the affected States, c.nd the Federal Govern-ment.
I would be pleased to meet with you to discuss this matter further.
Sincerely, s
M#
2 Nunzio J. Palladino
Enclosure:
As stated cc:
The Honorable Henry M. Jackson e
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p ENCLOSURE The TMI-2 reactor and related facilities have remained in a condition for which they were not designed for three years..
Only limited progress has been made in the cleanup, 1/ and uncertainties about long-term plant capabilities persist.
Even though TMI-2 is presently in a safe shutdown condition
.and public health, safety and the environment are being adequately protected, this situation is not certain to remain stable.
If THI-2 is allowed to remain in its present conditio'n over the long term, accidents involving radiation leakage and subsequent exposure to workers and the public have a greater probability for occurrence.
The potential for these adverse events 2/, although small now, will increase with time as TMI-2 equipment deteriorates.
Such. deterioration will be the inevitable result of maintenance limitations in areas of.
the TMI-2 facility where high radiation fields persist.
Since the radioactive fission products and the damaged fuel presently contained in the reactor and the containment building will remain radioactive for an extreme'ly long time, potential leakage of radioactive materials to the environ ment will continue to pose a serious threat until the fuel is removed, the facilities are decontaminated and all radioactive wastes are disposed of safely.
In combination with mechanical deterioration over time, natural phenomena (e.g., unexpectedly severe weather) and other adverse scenarios (e.g., fire) pose a potential threat I
to continued successful containment of TMI-2 contamination I
and stored waste.
Although the likelihood of severe weather or 'a fire resulting in a ' radiation release to the environ-ment is small, the possibility does exist, and the proba-bility for such events occurring increases with time.
Only the completion of'all cleanup and radioactive waste disposal activities at the TMI-2 site will eliminate all possibility of inadvertent radioactive releases.
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2 Footnotes
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March 1982 Status cf TMI-2 Cleanup:
Within several 1
weeks.of the accident, the decontamination of contami-nated areas in the auxiliary and fuel handling buildings was initiated and approximately 70 percent of the area has been decontaminated.
However, some of the more difficult areas to clean up were bypassed.
Other significant cleanup accomplishments include the purging of the contaminated atmosphere from the reactor building, the processing of accident-related water.
which collected in the auxiliary and reactor buildings, and the shipment of some of the radioactive solid waste generated as a result of clean'up activities.
Approxi-mately 750,000 gallons of moderately contaminated water from the auxiliary building and 600,000 gallons of highly contaminated water from the reactor building have been processed.
The reactor building has been purged of the 45,000 curie inventory of Kr-85 which collected during the accident.
Lastly, 22 low-level waste resin liners generated as a result of accident water processing, and large quantities of other low I.:
radiation level waste, have been shipped to a commercial burial site:for disposal.
While the cleanup completed to date represents a degree of progress toward total plant cleanup, a great deal of difficult work remains to be done.
About 5% of the highly contaminated water remains in the reactor building (approximately 30,000 gallons) and 90,000' I
gallons in the reactor coolant sys. tem require proces-l sing.
The balance of the most contaminated-floors and surfaces in the auxiliary building remain to be decon-I taminated.
Although a large-scale experiment for gross decontamination is in progress ~in portions of the l
reactor building, the entire reactor building will have to undergo detailed decontamination.
The most diffi-cult task ahead, defueling of the damaged core, is not anticipated to be completed for at least several. year.s.
Following defueling, the reactor coolant system sur-I faces will require decontamination.
The processed accident-generated water will require ultimate dispo-sition and the higher level solid. waste resulting.from.
water processing and other decontamination activities will require affsite shipment to a commercial or l
Federal facility for disposal or research, as appro-priate.
Finally, the damaged fuel assemblies and reactor vessel internals will require offsite disposition.
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Potential Health and Safety Events:
Specifically, potentially adverse public health and safety events
' fall in two general categories:
l (a)
Accidents resulting in worker exposures -- leakage i
from valves, pipes or tanks which does not reach the environment but which does expose workers either accidentally or while attending to the problem.
(b)
Accidents resulting in radioactive releases to the environment -- leakage resulting from a breach of the reactor building or processed water st.orage tank integrity and airborne releases generated by a mishap inside the plant and not removed by the plant's filtration syste,
There is also the interim storage of potential for releases f.
4 radioactive waste materials external to the plant buildings.
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