ML19209B395

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Opposes Conducting of Public Hearings Prior to Facility Restart Due to Negative Economic Impact on Nj Taxpayers
ML19209B395
Person / Time
Site: Three Mile Island Constellation icon.png
Issue date: 07/19/1979
From: Mcglynn R
NEW JERSEY, STATE OF
To: Hendrie J
NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML19209B391 List:
References
NUDOCS 7910090620
Download: ML19209B395 (2)


Text

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< a DEPARTMENT or ENERGY BOARD OF Pusuc UnuTicr RICHARD B.McGLYNN s I["E*Iu~e "num. July 19,1979 NrwAnM, N J. 07:ca d3

  • 9-o@M 7 .gi The Honorable Joseph M. Hendrie A 13 C Chairman N '2,0 Y2 Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D. C. 20545 /

Dear Mr. Chairman:

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I am writing in my capacity as an individnal commis-sioner of the New Jarsey Board of Public Utili*.ies to express my shock and dismay to learn that the Commission is cantemplating a hearing r'acedure for the s*m- up of Three Mile Island Unit No. 2. which will consume at least fifteen months. This schedule completely ignores the' awesome burden which will be placed on New Jersey's rate-payers by the fa,ilure of the unit to come on line by January 1, 1980. For the customers of Jersey Central Power

& Light, the GPU subsidiary subject to this Board's regula-tion, the cost to replace power lost from TMI Unit No.1 is 5.3 million dollars per month. In the recent request by that company for permission to recover through its levelized energy adjustment clause the cost of replacing power lost by both Three Mile Island units, the Board assumed that Unit No.1 would commence operation as of January 1, 1980 and. fixed rates accordingly. The Commission's hearing schedule renders that assumption baseless and can only lead to "rther requests for increased rates and fu=ther pressures on x . tis Board to impose on current customers the cost of bureaucratic shilly-shallying.

I share your obvious concern for the safety ri 's attendant on nuclear generation. However, the steps proposed by the operating company in their letter to Mr.

Denton of June 28th, all of which could be completed by September 1,1979, are even more stringent than those re-quired by the Commission at other Babcock and Wilcox reactors .

A public hearing to evaluate these proposed modifications and to evaluate all of the other reports on the TMI Unit No. 2 lb b 7910090

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The Honorable Joseph M. Hendrie- . . .2 accident could undoubtedly be held and disposed of before Januaef of 1980. I am advised that the NRC staff report on TMI Unit No. 2 will be completed shortly. Moreover, the presidential commission investigating the accident will have a report by early fall. To mandate a protracted hearing process for the hearing of those repcszts and to evaluate the necessary modifications to TMI Dinit No.1 is totally unwarranted.

The ratepayers of our state are being saddled with outrageous oil price increases imposed upon tus by the international OPEC cartel. President Carter has called upon us all to sacrifice and has called upon -the utilities to move away from oil-fired generation. The 'Three Mile Island Unit No.1 station displaces seven million barrels of oil per year. In fact, because of recent OPEC price increases the monthly impact of replacing Three Mile Island Unit No. 1 power on New Jersey ratepayers wit 7 more closely approximate eight million dollars per month r:ather than the somewhat conservative figure set forth above An NRC schedule which unnecessarily delays the availability o-f power from Unit No.1 is in direct contravention of Pres:ident Carter's announced policy.

New Jersey's citizens are depending upom your Commission to carefully evaluate all safety aspects of n:uclear genera-tion, but we must also insist that that evaltnation be done promptly and ereditiously so that the econonnic benefits of nuclear generation are available to us all.

Sincerely, 9

Richard B. McG1 Commissioner 1116 265