ML20050C205
| ML20050C205 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | 05000000, Crane |
| Issue date: | 03/26/1982 |
| From: | Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Udall M HOUSE OF REP., INTERIOR & INSULAR AFFAIRS |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20050C153 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8204080274 | |
| Download: ML20050C205 (11) | |
Text
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o UNITED STATES
,, E'8 A
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION f
,E r:ASHINGT ON, C. C. 20555
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March 26, 1982 CHAIRMAN The Honorable Morris K. Udall, Chairman Subcommitte on Energy and the Environment Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
We have been informed that the Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment will shortly hold hearings on financial problems affecting the cleanup of the Three Mile Island, Unit 2 (Ti1I-2) nuclear power plant.
We would like to share our views on this issue with you.
It is now three years since the TMI-2 accident and the financial problems, if anything, aopear further from solu-tion than they did last October, when we provided the enclosed testimony on nuclear accident cleanup insurance legislation (S-1606) introduced by Senator Heinz.
My fellow Commissioners and I therefore want to emphasize our belief that the cleanup of TMI-2 must be accelerated.
The poten-tial for slow degradation of containment integrity and equipment capability plus the increasing concern for an unexpected release of radioactive material argue that, as a last resort, it is time for the Federal Government to take a more aggressive role.
A more detailed explanation of our concerns is enclosed.
i 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, l
the cleanup will still have to be done and the entire job l
and associated costs may fall upon the Federal Government.
l That possibility has recently become more likely.
Restart of the undamaged Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island is the principal element in the owner's plan to finance the 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 setback adds a new degree of urgency to the increased Federal involvement we are recommending for clean up of TMI-2.
I B204000274 820322 1
PDR ADOCK 05000244 l
T PDR
e The Honorable Morris K. Udall 2 We support DOE's decision to accept and manage all the high-level waste, including 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 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, and the Federal Govern-ment.
I would be pleased to meet with you to discuss this matter further.
Sincerely, Nunz a
adino
Enclosures:
As stated cc:
The Honorable Manuel Lujan
- y ENCLOSURE The THI-2 reactor and related f acilities 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 condition 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 THI-2 equipment deteriorates.
Such deterioration will be the inevitable result of maintenance limitations in areas of the TMI-2 f acility 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 extremely 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, other adverse scenarios (e.g., fire)y severe weather) and natural phenomena (e.g., unexpectedl pose a potential threat to continued successful containment of TMI-2 contamination 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 THI-2 site will eliminate all possibility of inadvertent radioactive releases.
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Footnotes
/
March 1982 Status of TMI-2 C.leanup:
Within several 1
weeks of the acciFent, the decontamina' tion of contami-nated areas in the auxiliary and fuel handling bu11 dings 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 radiation level waste, have been shipped to a commer.cial 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 gallons in the reactor coolant system require proces-sing.
The balance of the most contaminated floors and surfaces in the auxiliary building remain to be decon-taminated.
Although a large-scale experiment for gross decontamination is in progress in portions of the 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 years.
Following defueling, the reactor coolant system sur-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 offsite shipment to a commercial or 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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s' 2/
Potential Health and Safety Events:
Specifically, potentially adverse public health and safety events
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fall in two general categories:
(a)
Accidents resulting in ' worker exposures -- leakage 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 l
the reactor building or processed water storage tank integrity and airborne releases generated by a mishap inside the plant and not removed by the plant's filtration system.
There is also potential for releases from the interim storage of radioactive waste materials external to the plant buildings.
4 9
l
TESTIMONY ON NUCLEAR ACCIDENT, CLEANUP INSURANCE U. S. SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES SUBCOMMITTEE ON NUCLEAR REGULATION OF THE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC WORKS Mr. Chaiman, I am pleased to be invited to testify today on the important legislation (S.1606) introduced by Senator Heinz.
I should begin by saying that the Commission's expertise does not lie in the area of utility financing and ratemaking and that the Commission will therefore not comment on the details of the financial measures proposed.
Our principal concern is the protection of the public's health and safety.
We support taking prompt steps to overcome the financial problems which are hindering the clean-up of THI-2 in order to ensure that the public health and safety is not threatened.
As we have all become aware, one of the major byproducts of.the March 28, l
1979 accident at Three Mile Island has been the inability of the TMI licensees to prwide the finances to meet the large costs estimated to be necessary to safely decontaminate the TMI-2 reactor. The NRC is very concerned that a prompt resolution to this problem is required to eliminate a potential threat to the health and safety of the publ'ic and the environ-ment.
The General Public Utilities Corporation and its operating subsidiaries -- Metropolitan Edison Company, Pen.:sylvania Electric Company, and Jersey Central Power and Light Company -- have the legal obligation to clean up the reactor site.
It has become increasingly obvious that GPU does not have adequate financial resources to proceed expeditously i
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I unless a larger source of funds is forthcoming, either through rate increases frcrn its customers or through assistance from outside sources, or a combination of both.
Clearly, the cleanup of TMI is an issue of national concern and Congress is the appropriate forum to consider the conditions under which funds l
will be provided for the cleanup of TMI-2. Although the Commission takes
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no position on the specific methods of obtaining funds for TMI-2 cleanup proposed in S.1606 and other legislation, we welcome the approach encom-passed in the proposed legislation as a reasonable mechanism for solving this continuing problem.
However, we would like to stress that remaining insurance funds are running out and that the proposed fund specified in Section 6 of the bill may not be established in sufficient time to provide adequately for near-tenn cleanup costs.
You may thus wish to consider interim steps to bridge any gap in time before a mechanism such as that provided in the bill is in place.
With respect to the broader issue addressed in the proposed legislation, in the interests of promoting protection of public health and safety and minimizing damages to life or property, the Commission supports the requirement for on-site property damage insurance to provide a substantial source of funds that can be available in a short time to clean up any future reactor accidents.
As you may be aware, the Conrnission on August published in the Federal Reaister a proposed rule that would 18, 1981 require power reactor licensees to purchase the maximum amount of on-site property damage insurance available from private sources.
Insurance currently available now totals $450 million, although the nuclear
- o insurance pools -- American Nuclear Insurers and Mutual Atomic Energy Reinsurance Pool and the electric utilities' own mutua.1 insurance organization, Nuclear Mutual Limited -- are attempting to increase
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aggregate policy limits to narrow the gap between available insurance coverage and potential cleanup expense.
There is general optimism that about $1 billion can be made available by early next year for property
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l insurance and cleanup through private insurance and utility payment of retrospective premiums.
If this amount cannot be established -- perhaps because of a reluctance of utilities to pledge the necessary retrospective premiums -- the Commission would support a program of mandatory payment of premiums.
If necessary, the Comission would seek legislative changes to mandate the availability and purchase of such insurance.
It is not certain that private sources of insurance will be available to cover cleanup costs much larger than those arising from the Three Mile Island accident.
Consequently, we see the legislation as a means of comple-menting NRC's proposed rulemaking to afford protection of public health and safety and minimize danger to life or property.
Further, Federal legislation may help to speed up the establishment of such a fund.
We have several specific coments on S.1606.
First, the requirement in Section 4(b) for shutdown of all operating reactors 180' days after enact-ment of the bill unless the licensees have paid the first insurance premium is almost certain to cause some shutdowns, in view of the time that would be needed af ter enactment to get the insurance scheme in place.
Until the system is established, licensees and applicants will' be unable to meet the requirements of the proposed legislation.
A similar problem v
I would exist with respect to the requirement that the premium be paid before a new operating license can be issued.
We would propose that the requirement for premiurs payments be keyed to some oeriod following the date of formal publication by the Secrebry of Energy of the premium rates, as required by Section 5(a), rather than to the date of enactment of the bill.
Second, Section 7 should be expanded to authorize the Secretary of Energy to remove the core and to receive, process, and store those radioactive wastes, including the damaged fuel, from the MI-2 cleanup that the NRC specifies as unsuitable for disposal in a commercial low level waste facility.
Much can be learned about the safe handling and storage of material from nuclear reactors from an examination of the damaged core and also from processing a'nd solidification of the wastes.
These are legitimate research and development tasks for the Department of Energy.
Morewer, if DOE and its contractors were to take responsibility for the, core of the damaged reactor, one of the largest elements of technological uncertainty would be removed. Thus, the other parties involved in funding the cleanup need not concentrate on this element..
We support the proposed legislation as a significant step in protecting l
public health and safety with respect to both cleaning up EI-2 and the.
broader issue of future accident cleanup for all licensed reactors.
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l i
J We note the following as complementary steps to the legislation by involving those parties having a logical interest in and benefit from TMI-2 cleanup:
l 1.
The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) research and development support at TMI-2 can act as a channel for funds l
from utility and reactor manufacturers' who would gain valuable insight into the effects of reactor accidents and the behavior ofreactorekuipment.
l 2.
The recent recommendation of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) in conjunction with Governor Thornburg's proposal that the electric utility industry provide about $190 million toward cleanup could provide an important increment in cleanup funding that should be encouraged.
While maintaining the basic independence of nuclear regulation mandated by Congress, the Commission intends to support both federal and state initiatives to expedite the cleanup of TMI-2.
We view the conditions persisting at that site since the accident as very serious. Most disturting is the uncertainty about the availability of resources " combined with the increasing potential for hazard to the public as time passes with little progress being made.
Irrespective of the ultimate fom that TMI-2 cleanup funding. takes, the NRC is prepared to support expeditious actions consistent with ensuring
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public health and safety.
Currently, we maintain professional staffs, located at both headquarters and the TMI site, who are dedicated to quick reviews of licens~ee cleanup proposals.
The Commission will ensure that this kind of NRC attention to TMI-2' cleanup efforts remains a high priority in this agency throughout the cleanup.
l This concludes our prepared testimony.
We will be glad to answer any i
questions you may have.
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