ML19259C481

Ucs Petition for Immediate Reconsideration of Errors in Commission 790508 Order & for Immediate Shutdown of Oconee Units 1 & 2

ML19259C481
Person / Time
Site:	Oconee
Issue date:	05/10/1979
From:	Weiss E UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS
To:	NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML19259C480	List: ML19259C479 ML19259C481 ML19259C482
References
FOIA-79-98 NUDOCS 7906220168
Download: ML19259C481 (6)

Text

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• UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS' PETITION FOR IMMEDIATE RECONSIDERATION OF THE ERRORS OF THE ORDER OF MAY 8, 1979 AND FOR IMMEDIATE SHUTDONN OF OCONEE UNITS 1 & 2 By Order dated May 7, 1979, the Commission directed the Duke Power Company to immediately undertake certain short term remedial steps to achieve a measure of improvement in the vul-nerability to feedwater transients of the three Oconee Units designed by Babcock and Wilcox. This Order, as well as those issued to the other licensees of Babcock and Wilcox units, was the outcome of a series of Commission meetings the week of April 23-28, 1979.

The Union of Concerned Scientists was permitted to make a brief extemporaneous statement at the Commission meeting of April 25, at which time we urged you to immediately shut down all of the Babcock and Wilcox plants until the Three Mile Island accident is understood and all measures are taken at all Bab-cock and Wilcox plants to prevent the recurrence of that acci-dent or a similar one.

Our purpose now is not to argue over the generic merits of the Babcock and Wilcox Orders or the particulars of the remedial measures to be taken at each plant; these issues can presumably be raised by any interested person by requesting a hearing within' twenty days. This petition seeks the immediate recensideration and modification of the Order to Duke Power 2281 025 7908220/4g :

Company only insofar as it exempts two of the three Oconee Units from immediate shutdown. As the attached Affidavit of Vince Taylor establishes, there is no rational basis for treating the Oconee Units any differently from all Babcock and Wilcox plants.

All Babcock and Wilcox plants pose an immediate threat to public health and safety and there is no countervailing threat of power supply deficiencies.

Although the Commission's Order gives no reason for permit-ting Oconee Units 1 and 2 to remain temporarily in operation, the only possible basis must be the Commission's belief that immediate shutdown of all Oconee Units would create a power supply deficiency in the Duke service territory. This was the purport of the self-serving assertions of Duke's President, William Lee, at the NRC briefing of April 25. In addition, a DOE-prepared analysis presented to the Commissioners on Friday, April 27, was said by Mr. Dennis Rathbun to support these assertions.

With no other supporting data whatsoever, the Commissioners apparently accepted these assertions. The fact is that they were not true. A combinatie. of errors and misleading oversimplifi-cations were at their core. When these are corrected, the available data show clearly that electric supplies available to the affected region are adequate to meet summer peak with Oconee 1, 2 and 3 and Surry 1 and 2 shutdown.

The attached analysis, entitled "The Effect of Closing the Oconee Nuclear Plants on the Ability to Meet Summer Peak Demands,"

was prepa' red by Dr. Vince Taylor for the Union of Concerned Scientists from publicly-available official documents, all of 2281 026

which are referenced. It is submitted under oath, as the attached Affidavit indicates.

Dr. Taylor has a B.A. in Physics from the California Insti-tute of Technology and a Philin Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1961 to 1970 he was a member of the Economics Department of the Rand Corporation. During this period, he performed quantitative analyses on a variety of public policy issues. From 1974 to 1979 he was with Pan Heuris-tics, a Los Angeles consulting firm. The great bulk of his work during this period was under contract to the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, for which he performed economic analyses of nuclear power, electricity supply and demand, and other as-pects of energy policy. At present, Dr. Taylor is a consultant to the Union of Concerned Scientists.

The attached analysis clearly establishes that the following errors and misconceptions were presented to the Commission:

NRC MISINFORMED ON EFFECTS OF CLOSING OCONEE NUCLEAR PLANTS The decision of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to exempt two of the three Oconee Units of Duke Power from its orders im-mediately shutting down the remaining operating Babcock and Wil-cox nuclear plants was based on erroneous and misleading informa-tion indicating that, in the absence of these units, " rotating blackouts" were likely. When errors of fact and interpretation are correc'ad, the testimony submitted to the Commission shows that electric supplies available to Duke Power would be more than adequate to meet exnected summer demands.

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BACKGROUND Duke Power is a member of the Virginia-Carolina (VACAR) power pool, which in turn is a sub-re.gion of the larger South-eastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC), one of the nine Reliability Councils that cover the United States. All of these entities are interconnected by extensive transmission facilities, so Duke Power has access to electricity generated outside of its own system and region.

ERRORS AND MISLEADING INFORMATION Item: A table presented to the Commissioners by the NRC Staff, based on information supplied by DOE, showed a " reserve" for VACAR after shutting the Oconee Units of minus 513 megawatts and a " reserve margin" of minus 1.8%.

E_r.or: In calculating this reserve figure, Oconee 1, which was scheduled by Duke Power for refueling at the time of summer peak, was subtracted from gross generating capability twice.

Misleading: In calculating " reserves," DOE subtracted an allowance for unscheduled equipment failure from scheduled generating capability. This is extremely unusual and yields a figure completely ir. comparable with normally cited reserve margins.

Correct Information: Correcting for.the double counting of Oconee 1, VACAR would have a scheduled capability reserve margin (the usually cited measure) of 11.8%

without the Oconee Units, before allowance for replace-ment imports of electricity.

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Item: After allowance for replacement imports of electricity, DOE information showed a supplemented " reserve margin" for VACAR of 7. 5% , with the Oconee Units closed.

Error: In addition to having the deficiencies cited above, the supplemented reserve margin for VACAR was grossly understated due to an arithmetical error.

On the basis ustd by DOE, correct arithmetic yields a reserve margin (after allowance for unscheduled equipment failures) of 16.3%.

Correct Information: After correcting for double counting of Oconee 1 and for the arithmetical error, the scheduled capability reserve margin for VACAR, after supplementation by the DOE estimate of potential imports, is 30%. This is far above the 15-20-% figure cited by DOE as adequate to provide reliable electric service.

Numerous other examples of misleading or incorrect infor-mation are detailed in the attached analysis by Dr. Taylor.

The Commission ordered the immediate or continued shutdown of all Babcock and Wilcox reactors except Oconee Units 1 and 2<

It did so " pursuant to the Atomic Energy Act ... and the Commission's Rules and Regulations in 10 CFR Parts 2 and 50."

Pursuant to the same authority, and the NRC's inherent authority and obligation to ensure the safety of nuclear power and protect the public health and safety, we urge you to act on the basis of the clear and convincing facts UCS has presented to order Oconee Units 1.and 2 to cease operation immediately. The NRC 2281 029

cannot permit the Duke Power Company to compromise public safety on the basis of unsubstantiated and untrue assertions. The attached analysis shows that the Commissioners were the victims of error and misrepresencation. Now that the record has been corrected, the Commission is obliged to see that the actions flowing from those errors and misconceptions are also corrected.

Submitted by the Unio.1 of Concerned Scientists, By ' Attorne* '

. A-Ellyn R. Weiss Sheldon, Harmon, Roisman & Weiss 1725 I Street, N.W., Suite 506 Washington, D. C. 20006 (202) 833-9070 DATED: May 10,197 9 2281 030

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