[Federal Register Volume 59, Number 93 (Monday, May 16, 1994)]
[Unknown Section]
[Page 0]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 94-11788]
[[Page Unknown]]
[Federal Register: May 16, 1994]
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
All Power Reactor Licensees; Receipt of Petition for Director's
Decision
Notice is hereby given that by Petition dated April 13, 1994, Paul
M. Blanch (Petitioner) has requested that the NRC take immediate action
with regard to all power reactor licensees, concerning the potential
meltdown of the fuel in the spent fuel pools for all reactors in the
United States. Specifically, the Petitioner requests that: (1) The NRC
immediately issue an information notice or other appropriate
notification forwarding all information in its possession to all power
reactor licensees regarding the potential meltdown of fuel in spent
fuel pools, and reminding licensees of their responsibilities to
perform timely operability determinations in accordance with their
technical specifications and NRC Generic Letter 91-18; (2) each
licensee immediately perform an evaluation of compliance of this
potential deficiency with respect to its current licensing basis; (3)
the NRC deny all requests for license amendments for the expansion of
spent fuel pool capacity until these safety concerns are fully
resolved; and (4) after evaluation by each licensee, if the NRC
determines there is little or no risk to the public health and safety,
the NRC may issue a Notice of Enforcement Discretion.
As bases for his request, the Petitioner asserts that the NRC was
informed approximately one and one-half years ago of a potential
substantial nuclear safety hazard at the Susquehanna Steam Electric
Station and the NRC has intentionally withheld this information from
other utilities. According to the Petitioner, this hazard involves a
major design flaw such that during a design basis loss of coolant
accident, the electrical power to the fuel pool cooling system would be
turned off, resulting in loss of cooling for the spent fuel pool. The
Petitioner alleges that radiation levels in the reactor building would
prohibit operators from entering the reactor building to restart the
system. According to the Petitioner, if cooling is not restored, the
water in the spent fuel pool will boil, water will evaporate and, since
the valves which must be opened to provide replacement water are within
the inaccessible reactor building, replacement water cannot be
provided, resulting in high onsite and offsite radiation levels and a
meltdown of the spent fuel in the pool resulting in release of massive
amounts of airborne radioactivity outside of primary and secondary
containment. The Petitioner alleges further that the residual heat
removal system could not cool the fuel pool under accident conditions,
and that if replacement water could be provided, the temperature and
humidity conditions would be generated in the reactor building which
would cause the emergency systems to fail, resulting in additional
meltdown and failure of the primary and secondary containment.
The request is being treated pursuant to 10 CFR 2.206 of the
Commission's regulations. The request has been referred to the Director
of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. By letter dated May 5,
1994, the Petitioner's request for immediate action has been denied.
A copy of the Petition is available for inspection at the
Commission's Public Document Room at 2120 L Street, NW. (lower level),
Washington, DC 20555.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 6th day of May 1994.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
William T. Russell,
Director, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 94-11788 Filed 5-13-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
