ML101440133

Letter to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Relicensing Committee from Robert Engles, Mayor of City of Auburn, Nebraska

ML101440133
Person / Time
Site:	Cooper
Issue date:	04/07/2010
From:	Engles R City of Auburn, NE
To:	Division of License Renewal
References
Download: ML101440133 (2)

Text

Economic Development Certified Community City of Auburn 1101 J Street Auburn, Nebraska 68305:

402-274-3420 402-274-4154 fax www.aubum.ne.gov MAYOR Robert B. Engles COUNCIL MEMBERS:

Frank Critser Chris Erickson Larry Holtzman William Snyder Annie Thomas Dennis Wittmann Nuclear Regulatory Commission Relicensing Committee My name is Bob Engles and I am the Mayor of Auburn, Nebraska. I'd like to thank the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for this opportunity and specifically for holding this public forum.

As I was watching the NRC presentation, safety review and environmental impact studies were mentioned as key parts of the process. I trust that both NPPD and the NRC will conduct a thorough process to identify issues that must be addressed in these areas so that Cooper Nuclear Station can continue operating for an additional 20 years.

That's exactly why I'm here. I'm here in support of extending the license for the Nebraska Public Power District's Cooper Nuclear Station. I'll speak just a little bit about the socioeconomic impact on my city, in particular. From a practical stand-point, I'm not sure it makes sense to discard a proven and effective method of power generation, especially when it has served Auburn, Nemaha County, and the state Nebraska for so many years as a safe and reliable source of electric generation for the past 35 years in a manner that has protected the public and environment.

Cooper Nuclear Station is an economic stimulus to Auburn and southeastern Nebraska. Their footprint is a stabilizing factor in our community's economy. As, an example, they employ approximately 720 people; half of those live in Nemaha County; 234 employees live in Auburn.

The plant's annual payroll is $55 million, over $17 million is the payroll for those employees that live in Auburn and with just a very little bit of math that shows the average income per employee living in Auburn is $75,860. These employees are' highly educated, highly trained and skilled and they do a quality job day in and day out with safety as their prime responsibility.

Cooper employees have become part of the fabric of this community over the years.

They live here, they are involved in community activities, our churches; they frequent the business community, they are involved in youth activities and social events within the community.

These people are our friends. They're our neighbors. Their kids attend our schools.

They volunteer their time to make Auburn and Nebraska a better place to live.

Late last year following NPPD's submittal of a license renewal application, Ron Asche, CEO and President of NPPD, which owns Cooper, held a series of meetings within the community with myself, other elected officials from other communities, and the business community. Mr. Asche pointed out that NPPD's Board of Directors has invested over $300 million in improvements to Cooper in preparation for the license extension. NPPD is serious about making these improvements that will enhance the safety of the operations, as well as continuing to generate low cost 1E G EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY

Several years ago NPPD discussed the possibility of closing Cooper. This community was concerned about that, primarily because of the impact on the economy of southeastern Nebraska. Closing Cooper would have been unfortunate. But NPPD's Board of Directors saw value in keeping the facility operating and have done a great job in moving forward with the safe operations of the facility, something that we expect to continue for another 20 years.

Indeed, all Nebraskans benefit from the operation of the Cooper Nuclear Station. Auburn has benefited from Cooper's operations directly, even though the plant is 10 miles away. Nebraska Public Power District has two facilities in the community that we believe are important for the operations of the site. The former Sheridan Elementary School has been transformed into a training center for Cooper employees and the many contractors who come into the community every 18 months for refueling outages. We believe that the training facility plays a great part of the strong environmental responsibility and safe operations of the facility each day.

A second facility was remodeled in our downtown area and houses a state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Center that would operate as needed. Exercises are held on a regular basis from that facility including ones with local emergency management personnel from southeastern Nebraska.

As Mayor, I'm confident in the ability of NPPD to operate and manage Cooper in a safe manner. We'll hear from, I'm sure, people that are concerned about safety issues and so am I. Throughout the years though, I've come to know the people at Cooper and NPPD and I have confidence that they understand the risks associated with nuclear power generation and that they've been and continue to do everything in their power to ensure my safety. You see, at the same time they're ensuring the safety of their families because they live in Auburn, Brownville, Nemaha County, Falls City, and Nebraska City too.

At this time I would like to introduce into the formal record a resolution of support for license extension for Cooper that was approved by the Auburn City Council.

With that, I'd like to thank the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for hosting these meetings in our community.

Thank you.

City of Auburn, Nebraska