ML19305A904
| ML19305A904 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Fort Calhoun  |
| Issue date: | 02/06/1980 |
| From: | Kirshen A METROPOLITAN AREA PLANNING AGENCY, OMAHA, NE |
| To: | Erickson P Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19305A905 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8003180561 | |
| Download: ML19305A904 (7) | |
Text
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.r mapa atizens advisor CG
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08/13/8 n February 6, 1980 Mr. Peter B.
Erickson Operating Reactors Branch #4 Division of Operating Reactors U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C.
20555
Dear Mr. Erickson:
Enclosed please find a letter addressed to the Omaha Public Power District regarding the public meeting held in Omaha on January 16, 1980 to consider the issues raised by OPPD's Application to NRC for Amendment to its Facility Operating License to increase the licensed power level from 1420 MWT to 1500 MWT, to switch over to fuel rods manufactured by Exxon Nuclear Corp, and to use Exxon analytical techniques.
While our Committee, which is an officially constituted working committee serving in an official, but independent advisory capacity to the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency on matters of concern to the Omaha region, sufficiently resolved its desire for a public forum to permit withdrawl of its earlier formal request for a public NRC hearing, and sufficiently resolved its environmental concerns to permit it to withhold unfavorable comment on the facility's pollution discharge permit, you may note with some interest that the Committee has recommended to the OPPD Board of Directors that, notwithstanding license modification to permit operation at 1500 MWT, Fort Calhoun should continue to be operated at 1420 MWT, its presently licensed capacity, in order both to prolong the fuel cycle and to avoid lingering questions of safety and risk which cannot apparently be resolved until NRC develops risk factor analysis regulations some time in the future.
The Committee has come to this conclusion in the belief that OPPD has failed to establish a demonstrated need for additional generating capacity, except on a contingency basis, since power demand has been just about constant and well below forecasts.
Since this is not a factor which the NRC considers in license modification proceedings, the Committee has addressed its recommendation to the OPPD Board and not NRC.
xFo3 Jll 8 0 0 318 0 5 (,(~
Oraoho. Council Blufis Metropolitan Area Planning Agency / 7000 West Center Road, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebroska 68106 / 402/444 6864
s f
Erickson04/10/80 Mr. Peter B.
1980 i
February 6, Page 2
'In going over its lessons learned, however, the Committee was most concerned about the machinations required to obtain a public forum at which ratepayers and other interested parties would have the opportunity to receive information, pose questions, obtain answers and make comments whenever a license modification proceeding is pending before the NRC.
Because of this concern, the Natural Resources Committee and its parent, the Citizens Advisory Board, has resolved that it submit to the NRC a Petition for Rule Making requesting that the NRC 1) promulgate rules to require an informal public meeting in each instance of license issuance, amendment, or modification such hearing to be substan-tially similar to the one we had here in Omaha; 2) promulgate rules to permit in all cases, informal participation by interested parties throughout a proceeding for license issuance, amendment or modification, as delineated by 10 C.F.R.
$2.715; and 3) promulgate rules to clarify that a request for a formal hearing can be made independent of intervention.
On behalf of the Committee, and the Citizens Advisory Board, I want to express my thanks and appreciation for your participation in the January 16th meeting, for the time and effort that you took in preparing for the public meeting, for your willingness to subject yourselves.to the numerous questions that were asked, and for the spirit of cooperation and public responsiveness which you evidenced.
In addition, for myself I wish to add my thanks for your several courtesiet and for the assistance in facilitating my attendance at technical meetings.
As I stated publicly earlier, public meetings can only go so far in resolving individual concerns about nuclear energy, and ultimately we laymen must place our trust in those in your position to ensure that everything is done by the numbers.
To the extent, however, that you have helped to resolve a multitude of questions on behalf of myself and numerous others, we were certainly glad that you were able to attend.
Very truly yours, Alan'H. Kirshen Associate Professor of Law &
Chairman, Natural Resources Committen AHK:cgf Enclosure cc:
Joseph R. Gray, Esq.
Betty Peake Kenneth J. Morris l-I
Ebst6merEffortsto Lse Less"
!'fouldIncreaseOPPDllatesi not m mnsene has to be made hours the distnct had forecast wouldbe sold.
BY ohnTaY or by the consumer" Petersen J
l said. "We are required by law Jr,was at least the second b;;
$18MillicoOff' 6 %.'**'""*"'"
(to sene customer demand). If straight year that energy sales f :.
.L.
V 5"2 Custunes of the Omaha we don't do it, we arein default had fallen below what OPPD 4 q'--
X "i
lPJ!TEWwer Distnet may f ace of our basic laws that brought hadprojected.
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- a rate increase trus vear ne.
public power and OPPD into In 1978 OPPD forecast of lcause uwv are usT6i less elec.being."
energy sales was 1.4 percentoff nun
't"E
- fTic n tv t n a n t h e v h_a_v e PromoteWinterUse themark. Asaresultof t':e1979 LtFT h a C med OPPD is a summer-peak uttl-energy sales, OPPD found that and less
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- taan OPPD managers had p_re.
ity. The largest demand on its actuai rennues ran sts million
~"
rr '
% gen, system occurs durmg a one-behind projections, accordmg
-T6e situation is due to a com. hour period in the summer to distnct figures. A compen-baadon~of factors,0 PPD offi. when air conditioners are run-satmg factor is that fuel costs iss?
~
- 2:afssitidiincluding relatively mngfull-blast.
. " = "
.rmidweather,aslowdowninthe
!!mustfindwaystoservethat wereabout $9 mi!! ion belew pro-
- Es
- eenomy and energy conserva-load and one way has been to jections because of the decime -
mdemand.
- tion, build expensive power plants.
OPPD enters 1980looking for
=n OP PD's problem. called Much of its generating capacity ways to improve its cash flow.
. "short-term" by district offi.
= u,g actenttaj'a Eldon C. Pape, an OPPD as-Ei cials, is that sales of energy iy ou sistant general manager, said ggLoartof muear.
su durine N Het e ars rav'
.mersen said OPPD is cor.
he and other managers will be LEE 3 behmd whatg;g;;rFRd protected and actualm.. sidenna promoting use owes talkmg to the crmses nm trown au "TTPPD could increase its the first quarter, outlining the tnutV dunngthe wmter.
ew problem and explaining the op-ND attrioutes most of h
i ter
=y
~~";i5;.c tne slowdown to the weather, ' revenues during t e w nmonths tohelp pay foritsequip-
Ihe slow amount of growth tionsopentothedistrict.
==.c rga g,
' nun c.=
but officials said conservation it would help every-from1978to1979weatinbute to
- ment,
~ ". T T."
may play a part in lower-than.
body," he said. "We're looking the very mild summer weather
!!!!?'
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anthpateduse, at tTie pos.ibility of going out we expenenced, as well as the
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C OPPD's0ptions and trymg to promote some off-very mild early winter weath-M The resulting slow crowt*Lof peak Md. There is a way to do
~" E ttfenues is soremg UPPD,to that and do it in conjunction er," Pape said. "In addition to "r-with energy conservation, and weather, we feel there is an 3Y
-e e ns to Impact from corser5ation on E. E r
Nr Licn un. in orer or n 'c*ity, thatiswiththeheatpump.
our customers' part. We don't rr
.gre:
"If a new home is built out in E.-SeN exce<s mavity_to West Omaha,it is gamg to have haseawaytomeasurethat.
Weather Big Factor orgg,;;,es.
a heating and coolmg system "If theweatherwasthedomi-
,-IttmMe talee t"'"a mms. andwewant theheatingsystem nant factor m 1979, a return to
} entOFFDmarket,"'e"'Gttmg t adx expenses.
Jntil recent years OPPD's to' eelectric "
normal Nebrasna weather,
would then bnng sales, as well [1
-incne.nc ras.
psk demand - the maximum TheTIMire complex reasons a.nwnt of electricity used in a as tevenue, back mto the range r ili utanticipated."
for;the situation. Some mem. one hour penod - grew at a However, Pape said, if tlie *
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slow. growth trend continues for h::.
~.
, bers of the OPPD board and of somewt.at predictable annual
=:-
l the:d:stnct's management say rate, generally 7 percent. Total.more than two or three years, '.
one reasonis that the pubM_Ap-energy sales - total kilowatt t'oPD would have to find addi E E:/
mahdai more and Riure energy hours sold to customers during r.al revenue to finance the W
6er use %rs, age ens theyear -also rose at about a 7 agh level of fixed costs, which
^
cr aMeo r"e e- "a~~
"' ms-percentrate.
include interest payments on g d.
Forecasts 0ff t~that a
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demand slowed, tney As the energy crunch hit, the borrowedmoney.
Pape said selling excess w
We with ectriomy slowed and conserva-power to other utilities may be say ueerment tMt_s$ "d m be tion took hold, the rate of d:fficult, because OPPD is not y is W
growth slowed. Paak demandin 7
alone in expenencing lower t -
p g or.
- amnple,
. EnergyConservattoo 1071_and 192 demand; other utilities in the ['
Mr Some OPPD cntics have grew at rm hah 1 namt; pointed to OPPD's advertising energy sales growth also has region also are feeling effects o slogan,"Use electncity for all been running below the 7 per-slow growth, I'nless the distnct can st's worth, but use it wisely,". centtraditional~ rate.
edWT7Tsent mmd75
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rn E.
a:id the distnct's use of a de During the last few years, cDI""Eists wa-*w +4 citning block rate structure OPPDforecastsof futurepower mav oe n the positmn omvmg !
based on "the moreyou use, the su -
..a k.
a wuc wowarr <*< m he
=u
' cheaper it gets," as evidence u:y est figures underscore Ume n met s mcrmme rgei,
ane lat
- r.u~
that the district emphasizes the trend, especially those
... a, a*;
2"zy ionsumptionover conservation. dealing with total energy sales, m
- DPPD spokesmen disagree andhavesetOPPD managers to NIIk..
q:: c. S;;;-
, htth the entics. "The largest thmking of ways to make up r
. h {1 J
! segleexpenditureinouradver-Gsmg budget is energy conser-revenue they had expected tne distncttoget.butdidn't.In 1979, OPPD sold 5.015,484,- (
- 22....
3~
Q
\\
300 kilowatt hours of energy. {....
" said Fred Petersen, v1
- varion, 9..
Q- '
g
. ihvision manager for public re-Declining block rates, he Thatrep esentedasix.tenthsof l-1 percent increase over sales of g
u lations.
l said, aren't to encourage usage 4.990,930,500 kilowatt hours in fm. L But "are designed so that each 1978.
The actual energy sales last r
,' l l @ois'omer pays what it costsPPD to prtmdeservice to that }earcontamed s
pelow the 5,251,669,000 kilowatt
)
i classof customer.
' "N deiuon of whether or
. --- ~.as t f
/
mapa citizens adviso Cu 03[380 February 6, 1980 Mr. Lloyd C.
Shalla General Manager Omaha Public Power District 1623 Harney Street Omaha, NE 68102
Dear Mr. Shalla:
i on behalf of the Natural Resources Committee of the Citizens Advisory Board of the Metropolitan Area Planning Agency, which committee, as ycu know, is an officially constituted working committee which.ierves in an official, but independent advisory capacity in mattars of concern to the Omaha region, I wish to express my sip;ere appreciation to OPPD for your cooperation in the implementation of the public meeting on OPPD's proposal to increase the licensed power level at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station from 1420 MWt to 1500 MWt, and to concurrently switch to fuel rods manufactured by the Exxon Nuclear Corp.
While some participants perhaps were still left with lingering quastions, we were most gratified with the opportunity afforded L1 interested persons to pose questions and make comments regarding
" stretch power" and its environmental and safety implications.
We were particularly pleased that our mutual concerns regarding decorum and relevance at the public meeting were not realized, and that questions and comments remained germane throughout.
Because this was so, our Committee hopes that in the future it will not be necessary to go to the lengths required in this case to get OPPD to participate in such a public forum.
To this end, we have resolved to request two rule changes by the Nuclear Regu-latory Commission which would not only facilitate public meetings in a format similar to that which we adopted, but would facilitate informal public participation in the NRC license modification proccadings as well.
These resolutions are being transmitted directly to the NRC for consideration under their rulemaking procedures.
On January 22, 1980, the Natural Resources Committee convened to again consider the question of stretch power at Fort Calhoun in the light of information obtained at the public meeting.
While the Committee considered its goal of obtaining a public forum on this issue to be sufficiently satisfied as to permit withdrawl of its formal Request for Hearing addressed to the NRC, and while the Committee considered environmental implications of stretch power to be, under normal operating conditions, Omaha. Council Blufis. Metropolitan Area Planning Agency / 7000 West Center Rood, Suite 200, Ornaha, Nebraska 68106 / 402/444 6866
03 M80 Mr. Lloyd C. Shalla February 6, 1980 7
Page 2 sufficiently slight as to avoid unfavorable comment on OPPD's application to the Nebraska Department of Environmental Control for modification of its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for Fort Calhoun, the Committee nonetheless felt that OPPD has failed to establish a demonstrated need for additional generating capacity, particularly in view of the fact that power demand has been at or below forecast levels, and rose a minimal 0.5% in 1979, well below forecast.
Accordingly, the Committee voted to commend to the OPPD Board of Directors the proposition that, while licensed capacity of Fort Calhoun may increase to 1500 MWt, barring unforeseen circumstances of demand the plant oight to continue to be operated at its cycles licensed capacity, 1420 MWt, this prolonging the operational interval between reloads by c tgnificant amount and also avoiding the questions of adverse safety implications of stretch power attendant upon the increased likelihood of some incident ("tran-sient") susceptible of exacerbation due to operator error, analysis of which must abide adoption of risk factor analysis regulations Ly the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
By copy of this letter to each of the OPPD directors we are herewith transmitting our recommendation to the Board for their consideration.
We should be happy to discuss this matter further with either the Board or with your staff, nd earnestly hope that our proposition will receive serious n ideration.
V 1
- yours, 1 n H.
Kirshen A socia ca Professor of Law and C airman, Natural Resources
^ Committee AHK:cgf cc:
Joseph R. Gray, Esq.
Mary Alice Race Harry F. Voight Esq.
Gene Spense Stephen G. Olson, Esq.
Michael Egan Frank J. Hogan Dan T. Drain Sam Jensen Peter B. Erickson Robec' K. Corn Betty Peake
mapa citizens adviso Cu 03[13/80 February 6, 1980 Mr. Dan T.
Drain Director Nebraska Department of Environmental Control Box 94877, State House Station Lincoln, NE 68509 Re:
NPDES Permit No. 0000418 Reference is made to a letter to you from the Natural Resources Committee of the Citizens Advisory Board of the Metropdlitan Area Planning Agency dated July 23, 1979, enclosing a resolution of d$sappte;si of an application by the Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) for a modification of its NPDES permit to allow increased thermal discharge from its Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Station.
This appli-cation was in connt. tion with OPPD's proposal to utilize
" stretch power" at its facility, i.e. increase its gene-rating capacity by the use of a different type of fuel rod assembly.
In your lettersof July 26, 1979, and August 15, 1979, you indicated that many of the concerns expressed by our Committee about the stretch power proposal were better addressed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and that you would defer action on OPPD's proposal pending NRC action.
On January 16, 1980, a public meeting was held in Omaha at which all interested persons had the opportunity to attend, ask questions not only of OPPD, but of NRC and OPPD's vendors and consultants as well.
At the hearing, all of the Committee's concerns regarding thermal discharge and the NPDES permit modi-fication were addressed and discussed at length.
As a result, our committee herewith advises that its earlier Resolution dated July 18, 1979, is no longer operative.
While the com-mittee is satisfied that, under normal operating conditions, the impact of the discharge modification will be relatively slight, we nonetheless continue to have questions about the safety implications of stretch power which cannot be resolved with present NRC analytical methodology, but must abide development of new regulations dealing with risk factor analysis.
Accordingly, the Committee will give neither favorable nor unfavorable comment on the NPDES permit application.
j Omaha. Council Blufis. Metropolitan Area Planning Agency / 7000 West Center Rood, Suite 200, Omaha, Nebraska 68106 / 402/444 6866 l
Mr. Dan T.
Drain 80 Page 2 February 6, 1980 We very much appreciate your cooperation and indulgence in the handling of this matter, and hope that our concerns have not created any untoward difficulties in the processing of this matter by your Department.
Hopefully, most A-95 reviews can be processed in a less tr bl ome manner.
/
Very t ly yours, Alan,H. Kirshen Aspociate Professor and Chairman, Natural Re sources Committee
(
AHK/jkk cc:
Kenneth J. Morris Betty Peake i
!