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PATRICIA DOWD ro o

DAVID J. VOGLER

ABDULKADER C. HAMADEH August-6, 1990

.

Kenneth Carr, Chairman

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ; k'ashington, D.C. 20555 ' !

Dear Chairman Carr: ! The Office of Inspector General's report of July 23 1990 on the NRC Staff ; review of Pilgrim off-site emergincy preparedness clearly demonstrates that the Commission's December 1988 authorization to restart Pilgrim was based on false and incomplete information about the status of off-site emergency preparedness. As you may know, the Duxbury Se3ectmen called for a congressional investigation of the behavior of KRC staf f in the review process in letters sent to Representative Gerry Studds and Senator Edward Kennedy on October 19. 1988.

1 Our review of the OIG report, including the NRC staff comments and O1G responses in Appendix I, leads us to believe that the NRC staff actively mis- represented the status of of f-site emergency preparedness in addition to providing an assessment that was, in the words of the 01G report, "neither balanced.nor thorough" and relying on information obtained from the Edison Company rather-than responsible local officials. The NRC staff Comments Numbers 8 and 20 . j (pages 28 and 38) illustrate our point. k' hen' staf f members continue to ref er to ! a memorandum entitled, "P1LGRlM NUCLEAR P0k'ER STATION MEETINGS REGARDING EMERGENCY !

PREPAREDNESS", as evidence of a meaningful dialogue with local officials about-- emergency preparedness issues even after the OIG report made it clear that none

of those meetings were held for the purpose of discussing emergency preparedness ; and they followed a format that precluded any meaningful dialogue, then staff members are actively misrepresenting the review process - a much more serious concern than failing to be balanced and thorough in th_eir assessment. In addition to the f ailure of the NRC staf f to provide an objective assessment of off-site emergency preparedness, it appears.that the Commission itself ignored > the statement and supporting information provided by Duxbury Selectmen Patricia. Dowd and other officials at the December 9, 1988 Commission meeting. Moreoever, on October- 26, 1988, Duxbury officials directly provided NRC staff members from Region I with information to correct the inaccuracies and misrepresentation of the NRC staff at the October 14, 1988 meeting.

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.. ' Chairman Carr Letter 8/6/90 Page 2

We believe that the disregard for the safety of the citizens of Duxbury evident in the NRC staff assessment requires the immediate dismissal of those staff members responsible for providing the Com=ission with inaccurate and incomplete information. Since the NRC decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim was based on incomplete and inaccurate information and since the Commission itself appears to have ignored direct evidence on off-site emergency preparedness presented by the local officials, we call on you to reconsider your- December 21, 1988 decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim and to initiate a second review and assessment of off-site emergency preparedness. Finally, ' because we believe that the failings of the review process evident in this case require congressional action to ensure that the public. safety is protected in future decisions, we are calling once again for a congressional investigation of the decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim.

Sincerely,

Patricia A. Dowd David J. Vogler Abdulkader C. Hamadeh Chairman

1 i cc: Senator Edward M. Kennedy | Senator John F. Kerry Sen'ator John Glenn Representative Silvio R. Conte Representative Edward P. Boland Representative Joseph D. Early | Representative ' Representative Chester G. Atkins Representative Representative Edward J. Markey | Representative Joseph P. Kennedy, II ! Representative John Joseph Hoakley Representative Gerry E. Studds Representative Brian J. Donnelly Assistant Secretary Peter Agnes, Public Saf ety a Nuclear Affairs Committee | Radiological Emergency Response Plan Committee | |

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i We believe that the disregard for the safety of the citizens of Duxbury evident in the NRC staff assessment requires the immediate dismissal of those staff members responsible for-providing the Commission with inaccurate and incomplete information. Since the NRC decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim was based on incomplete and inaccurate information and since the Commission itself appears to have ignored direct evidence on off-site emergency preparedness presented by the local officials, we call on you to reconsider your December- 21, 1988 decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim and to initiate a second review and assessment of off-site emergency preparedness. Finally, because we believe that the failings of the review process evident in this case require congressional action to ensure that the public safety is protected in future decisions, we are calling once again for a congressional investigation of the decision to authorize the restart of Pilgrim.

Sincerely.

.

I Patricia A. Dowd David J. Vogler Abdulkader C. Hamadeh. Chairman j

cc: Senator Edward M. Kennedy Senator John F. Kerry Senator John Glenn Representative Silvio R. Conte Representative Edward P. Boland Representative Joseph D. Early Representative Barney Frank 3 Representative Chester G. Atkins Representative Nicholas Mavroules Representative Edward J. Markey Representative Joseph P. Kennedy. II Representative John Joseph Moakley Representative Gerry E. Studds Representative Brian J.'Donnelly Assistant Secretary Peter Agnes, Public Safety Nuclear Affairs Committee Radiological Emergency Response Plan Committee

.

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