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The Honcrable Richard L. Ottinger, Chainnan Subcommittee on Energy Conservation and Power
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Comittee on Energy and Comerce United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
Enclosed for your information is an announcement that the Nuclear Regulatory Comission staff has reduced by fifty percent a proposed civil penalty against Southern California Edison Company for viola-tions at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 3, identi-fied during a special inspection in March 1984.
It is planned to mail this information to the news media today, September 25, 1984.
Sincerely, Carlton Kamerer, Director Office of Congressional Affairs
Enclosure:
As stated cc: Rep. Carlos Moorhead IDEi4TICAL LETTER SEf4T T0:
Sen. Simpson/cc: Sen. Hart Rep.
Udall/cc:
Rep. Lujan Rep. Markey/cc:
Rep. Marlenee Sen. Cranston l
Sen. Wilson l
Rep. Packard 0510230250 851004 Q
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UNITED STATES lo r j, NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION O'N..Y./'/
Office of Public Affairs Washington, D.C. 20555 No.84-113 FCR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tel. 301/492-7715 (Tue3 day, September 25,1984)
NRC STAFF REDUCES PROPOSED CIVIL PENALTY AGAINST SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has reduced by fifty percent a proposed civil penalty against Southern California Edison Company for violations at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 3, identified during a special inspection in March 1984.
In a September 24, 1984, letter, the NRC said it is imposing a $125,000 fine for the violations, instead of the proposed $250,000, because of SCE's " prompt and extensive corrective action."
In May, the NRC staff cited SCE for disabling a safety system at San Onofre Unit 3 between March 4 and March 17, 1984, and proposed a $250,000 civil penalty, giving the company 30 days to either pay the fine or formally submit a protest.
In a June 15 letter, supplemented by an August 13 letter, SCE admitted the violations but asked that the fine not be imposed because of mitigating circumstances.
Richard C. DeYoung, Director of NRC's Office of Inspection and Enforcement, has notified the company of his finding that the fine should be reduced by fifty percent because of SCE's prompt and extensive corrective actions, including initiatives taken to improve management and supervisory effectiveness. Under NRC regulations, the company now has 30 days to either pay the civil penalty or request a hearing before an NRC administrative judge.
The violations involved both subsystems of the containment spray systems at San Onofre Unit 3 being inoperable due to improper valve alignments from March 4 to March 17. The containment spray system is designed to spray water inside the reactor containment building in the event of an accident to reduce pressure inside the building and reduce the concentraton of radioactive iodine in the containment atmosphere.
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