Word: nrc
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Stealing a jump on the President, Senator Edward Kennedy conducted his own hasty investigation. His Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research summoned, among others, NRC Chairman Joseph Hendrie. Irritated by Hendrie's unflappable, all-too-cool testimony, Kennedy complained: "I would think you would have a greater sense of anxiety than you apparently...
Committee witnesses, like Douglas Costle, head of the Environmental Protection Agency, were more reassuring on the question of the danger to human health. NRC data showed that the largest dose of radiation anyone in the immediate area received was 80 millirems; by comparison, an average American absorbs 200 millirems each year. HEW Secretary Joseph Califano testified that he expected no additional cancer deaths among the population within 50 miles of the plant. He also announced that the Food and Drug Administration was testing food, milk and river and drinking water in the vicinity of the site. No hazardous increase...
Attempting to deal with a crisis that was only dimly understood, the White House, according to a staffer, "went into a state of absolute red alert." Jack Watson, presidential assistant for intergovernmental affairs, served as White House liaison with the NRC and Three Mile Island. If an administrative snag developed, Watson intervened. "There was an imperative need for flexibility and immediate response," says Watson. "As a general rule, this was followed surprisingly well...
...White House gave high marks to Harold Denton, the NRC official who finally pulled things into shape at the reactor, and to Pennsylvania's new Republican Governor, Richard Thornburgh. "We found him to be extraordinarily competent, calm and sensible," said a Carter aide. "We never worried that he would get carried away." Said Thornburgh: "I told the President we are tough people and that we'll handle...
...debate about the culpability-and venality&3151;of Met-Ed was just beginning. In its defense, the utility insisted that the problems with Unit 2 were all routine. Before the reactor could begin operating commercially it also had to be approved by the NRC. Added Denton: "We don't issue licenses to operate plants until our people tell us that all tests have been completed...