H-1632              _______________________________________________

                                           HOUSE JOINT MEMORIAL NO. 4026

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1987 Regular Session

By Representatives Todd, Unsoeld, Nelson, Wang and Lux

Read first time 3/4/87 and referred to Committee on Energy & Utilities.

TO THE HONORABLE RONALD REAGAN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE AND THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, AND TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED AND TO THE SECRETARY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY:

          We, your Memorialists, the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Washington, in legislative session assembled, respectfully represent and petition as follows:

          WHEREAS, The Hanford N Reactor is a large, unlicensed nuclear reactor which operates on the bank of the Columbia River in Washington state and is exempt from independent inspection and regulation by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954; and

          WHEREAS, The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards of the Atomic Energy Commission did not issue the N Reactor the committee's standard ruling that the N Reactor could be operated "without undue threat to the public health and safety" before the reactor's operation in 1963; and

          WHEREAS, The federal Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards in 1965 did find that the potential hazards associated with the Hanford reactors, including the N Reactor, exceed those of licensed reactors; and

          WHEREAS, A catastrophic accident at the N Reactor would threaten the health and economic livelihood of citizens throughout the Northwest; and

          WHEREAS, Radioactive liquid waste discharges from the N Reactor migrate to the Columbia River at levels in excess of federal standards for radioactive strontium-90, a known carcinogen; and

          WHEREAS, Design similarities between the N Reactor and the Chernobyl #4 reactor in the Soviet Union prompted the United States Secretary of Energy to commission a panel of independent consultants, the "Roddis Panel," to review the safety of the N Reactor; and

          WHEREAS, Members of the Roddis Panel expressed serious reservations about the wisdom of continuing to operate the N Reactor without major safety modifications and without a compelling finding of need for the reactor's services; and

          WHEREAS, There is a temporary halt in the N Reactor operations while modifications of uncertain safety value are made to the reactor; and

          WHEREAS, There remain numerous environmental and safety issues, including lack of a standard reactor containment structure;

          NOW, THEREFORE, Your Memorialists respectfully pray that an environmental impact statement assessing continued operation of the N Reactor be prepared by the United States Department of Energy in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act before resumption of the N Reactor operations.

          BE IT RESOLVED, That copies of this Memorial be immediately transmitted to the Honorable Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Energy, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress from the State of Washington.