ML19309C088

Statement in Opposition to Consolidation of Proceedings for Hearing Purposes,Per ASLB 800307 Prehearing Conference Request.Issues Not Identical & Evidence in South Tx Project May Not Be Related to Comanche Peak.W/Certificate of Svc

ML19309C088
Person / Time
Site:	South Texas, Comanche Peak
Issue date:	03/17/1980
From:	Stahl D CENTRAL & SOUTH WEST CORP., ISHAM, LINCOLN & BEALE
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
NUDOCS 8004080153
Download: ML19309C088 (9)

Text

o .

M UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION l

BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD

. In the Matter of: 5 S

HOUSTON LIGHTING & POWER S NRC DOCKET NOS. 50-498A COMPANY, THE CITY OF SAN S 50-499A ANTONIO, THE CITY OF AUSTIN,5 and CENTRAL POWER AND LIGHT S

COMPANY S l (South Texas Project, Unit S )

Nos. 1 and 2 S l S l TEXAS UTILITIES GENERATING S NRC DOCKET NOS. 50-445A i 50-446A COMPANY, -ET AL. S (Comanche PeiY Steam S l Electric Station, 5 l Unit Nos. 1 and 2 S ,

)

I STATEMENT OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH WEST CORPORATION AND ITS SUBSIDIARIES OPPOSING CONSOLIDATION OF THE SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT AND COMANCHE PEAK PROCEEDINGS At the prehearing conference on March 7,'1980 the Licensing Board requested comments by March 17, 1980 as to the advisability of consolidating for hearing purposes the South Texas Project and Comanche Peak proceedings. Central and South West Corporation and its subsidiary companies (Central Power and Light Company, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, Southwestern Electric Power Company and West Texas Utilities Company) (collectively "CSW") file herewith their Statement of Position opposing consolidation of the two proceedings. p se G +

I OOCKETED u:nao it L.

J- MAR:9 330 , r 1 6, % c!U'a tteg 'l 0*g,,(Smts 153 geJp- v? 8004080

? .

6 Under Section 2.716 of the Ccamission's Rules of i

Practice, two or more proceedings may be consolidated only on a finding that "such action will be conducive to the f i

proper dispatch of (the Commission's ) business and to the  !

l ends of j ustice. " Under that standard c'onsolidation is not justifiable here.

The principal reason which CSW advances against consolidation is that not all parties to the proceedings are parties to both proceedings. The Public Utilities Board of the City of Brownsville, Texas (" PUB"), the Medina-STEC coopera-tives, City Public Service Board of San Antonio, City of Austin Electric Department and Houston Lighting and Power Company ("HLP") are parties to the South Texas Project proceeding but . not Comanche Peak, while the Tex-La Coopera-tives are parties to Comanche Peak but not South Texas Project. As might be expected, therefore, the issues in the two proceedings are not identical. Thus, as an intervenor in the South Texas proceeding the PUB has raised a number of allegations concerning anticompetitive practices committed against it.by CPL and others, including denial of access to )

the South Texas Project, matters not necessarily related to l the Comanche Peak proceeding. Similarly, the evidence of the Tex-La Cooperatives could be expected to be unrelated to the South Texas proceeding. l l

- -n-g _ - - , - . , - -. - , ,, . - , -

rn .,

m

In Wisconsin Electric Power Company (Point Beach Unit 1) 5 AEC 28 (1972), the Commission declined to con- ,

I solidate the hearing concerning the continuation of the -

operating license for Point Beach Nuclear Plant Unit 1 with l the hearing on the operating' license for the Point Beach ,

i Unit 2. The basis for the decision was that the consoli- .

dation would interject into the Point Beach No. 2 hearing

" contentions which may be~ relevant only to the Point Beach Unit 1 proceeding." 5 AEC at 28 - 29. The same considera-tion indicates that the South Texas Project.and Comanche Peak proceedings should not be consolidated. Although there would be issues and proof common to the proceedings, the differences are so substantial.that consolidation would result in an evidentiary hearing that would in fact be .

proceeding along two separate tracks. The confusion that could conceivably result from trying two cases as one would clearly outueigh any perceived advantages of consolidation.

Consecutive hearings of the Comanche Peak and South Texas proceedings woul'd not in fact require appreciably more hearing time or the expenditure of additional adminis-trative resources. Were the Comanche Peak proceeding to be heard,first, there would be no need to duplicate all of the evidence heard in that case in the subsequent South Texas proceeding. The direct testimony in Comanche Peak cond$,

where relevant, be incorporated into the South Tex 6p pco-ceeding, and the participants in that proceeding uoul,' then e

4.

- . - - - , - . ., r. ,. , , - - , .-,

I be permitted to cross-examine based on that direct testimony.

In this way the issues which are common to the Comanche Peak and South Texas proceedings could be tried in the most efficient manner while the issues that are different between the two proceedings could be more easily segregated. This procedure would result in a more coherent record in both proceedings.

The Comanche Peak proceeding should be heard first I I

by the Licensing Board. First, Texas Utilities Company 's projected date for commercial operation of the Comanche Peak plant is March, 1981, substantially in advance of that projected for the South Texas Project. In addition, only very recently did HLP advise the other parties to the South Texas proceedings that HLP witnesses would rely in their testimony on studies performed by Stagg Systems, Inc.

A preliminary review of these studies and the workpapers underlying these studies indicates that a complete and thorough analysis of the work performed by Stagg will require approximately six months. This time is obviously not avail-able between now and the projected May 14 hearing date.

Analysis of these studies and underlying documentation could however be made during the time the Comanche Peak proceeding is being heard.

For all the foregoing reasons, CSW opposes con- -

solidation of the Comanche Peak and South Texas proceedings and suggests that the Cccanche Peak hearing be held before the South Texas hearing.

L

Respectfully submitted, ISHAM, LINCOLN'& BEALE

/

/

• Attorneys for THE CENTRAL AND SOUTH WEST COMPANIES Suite 325 1120 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20036 202/833-9730 One First National Plaza Chicago, Illinois 60603 312/558-7500 Dated: March 17, 1980 l

4 l

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of: S S

HOUSTON LIGHTING & POWER S NRC DOCKET NOS. 50-498A COMPANY, THE CITY OF SAN S 50-499A ANTONIO, THE CITY OF AUSTIN,S and CENTRAL POWER AND LIGHT S COMPANY S ..

(South Texas Project, S Unit Nos. 1 and 2) S S

TEXAS UTILITIES GENERATING S NRC DOCKET NOS. 50-445A COMPANY, et al. S 50-446A (Comanche Peak Steam S Electric Station, S Unit Nos. 1 and 2) S

/

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, David M. Stahl, hereby certify that copies of the foregoing Statement of Central and South West Corporation and its Subsidiaries Opposing Consolidation of the South Texas Project and Comanche Peak Proceedings were served upon the following listed persons by deposit in the United States mail, first class postage prepaid on this 17th day of March,  ;

l 1980.

k. ( /-4  !

Dap d M. Stahl I I w-

.Mnrshcil E. Millor, Eng. ,

Roy P. Loosy, Jr., Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Cc=missior. Michael B. Blums, Esq.

Washington, D.C. 20555 - U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comm.

Washington, D.C. 20555 Michael L. Glaser, Esq.

1150 17th. Street, N. W. William C. Price Washington, D. C. 20036 Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Sheldon J. Wcife, Esq. Central Power & Light Co.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P. O. Box 2121 Washington, D.C. 20555 Corpus Christi, Texas 78403 Atomic Safety and Licensing G. K. Spruce, Gen. Manager Appeal Board Panel City Public Service Board U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission P. O. Box 1771 Washington, D. C. 20555 San Antonio, Texas 78203 Chase R. Stephens (20) Mr. Perry G. Brittain Dccketing and Service Section President U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Texas Utilities Generating Co.

Washington, D. C. 20555 2001 Bryan Tower Dallas, Texas 75201 Jerome D. Saltzman Chief, Antitrust and Indemnity Group R. L. Hancock, Director U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission City of Austin Electric Utility Washington, D.C. 20555 P. O. Box 1088 Austin, Texas 78767 J. Irion Worsham, Esq.

Merlyn D. Sampels, Esq. G. W. Oprea, Jr.

Spencer C. Relyea Esq. Executive Vice President Worsham, Forsythe & Sampels Houston Lighting & Power Co.

2001 Bryan Tower, Suite 2500 P. O. Box 1700 Dallas, Texas 75201 Houston, Texas 77001 Jon C. Wood, Esq. Michael I. Miller, Esq.

W. Roger Wilson, Esq. James A. Carney, Esq.

Matthews; Nowlin, Macfarlane & Barrett Isham, Lincoln & Beale 1500 Alamo National Building One First National Plaza San Antonio, Texas 78205 Chicago, Illinois 60603 Morgan Hunter, Esq.

J. A. Bouknight, Esq. Bill D. St. Clair, Esq.

Bill Franklin, Esq. McGinnin, Lockridge & Kilgore Lbwenstein, Newman, Reis, Axelrad Fifth Floor, Texas State

& Toll - Bank Building 1025 Connecticut Avenue, N. W. 900 Congress Avenue Washington,.D. C. 20036 Austin, Texas 78701 R. Gordon Gooch, Esq. Don R. Butler, Esq. .

Baker & Botts 1225 Southwest Tower 1701 Pennsylvania Avenue, N. W. Austin, Texas 78701 Washington, D. C. 20006

Jerry L. Harrio, Egq. W. S..Robson-Richard'C. Balough, Esq. General Manager City.of Austin South Texas Electric-

'P.-O. Box 1088 Cooperative, Inc.

Austin, Texa's 78767 Route 5, Building 102 Victoria Regional Airport Joseph B. Knotts, Jr., Esq. Victoria, Texas 77901 Nicholas S. Reynolds, Esq.

Debevoise & Liberman Robert C. McDiarmid, Esq..

- 1200 17th Street, N. W. Robert A. Jablon, Esq.

Washington,'D..C. 20036 Marc R. Poirier Speigel & McDiarmid Don H. Davidson 2600 Virginia Avenue, N.W.

City Manager Washington, D. C. 20036 City of Austin:

P. O. Box 1088 Kevin B. Pratt Austin, Texas 78767 Texas Attorney General's Office P. O. Box 12548 Jay Galt, Esq. Austin, Texas 78711 Looney, Nichols, Johnson & Hays 219 Couch Drive William H. Burchette, Esq.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73102 Frederic H. Ritts, Esq.

Law Offices of Northcutt Ely

'Knoland J. Plucknett Watergate Building '

Executive Director Washington, D. C. 20037 Committee on Power for the Southwest, Inc. Wheatley & Wolleson 5541 East Skelly Drive 1112 Watergate Office Bldg.

Tulsa, Oklahoma 74135 2600 Virginia Avenue, N.W.

Washington, D. C. 20037 John W. Davidson, Esq.

Sawtelle, Goods, Davidson & Tiolo Joseph Rutberg, Esq.

1100 San Antonio Savings Building Antitrust Counsel San Antonio, Texas 78205 Counsel for NRC Staff U.S. NRC Washington, D. C. 20555 Douglas F. John, Esq. Linda L. Aaker, Esq.

Akin, Gump, Hauer & Feld Asst. Attorney General

1333 New Hampshire Avenue, N. W. P. O. Box 12548 Suite 400 Capitol Station Washington, D. C. 20036 Austin, Texas 78711 W. N. Woolsey, Esq. Robert M. Rader Dyer and Redford Conner, Moore & Corber l ,

1030 Petroleum Tower 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.

Corpus Christi, Texas 78474 Washington,.D.C. 20006 Donald Clements Melvin G. Berger, Esq.. .

Gulf States Utilities Company Ronald Clark, Esq.

P. O. Box 2951 Antitrust Division, Energy Beaumont, Texas 77704 Section- -

Room 8308

)

414 lith Street, N.W.

I Washington, D.C. 20530

F Charloc G. Thrach, Jr., Ecq. Joseph J. Saunders, Esq.

E. W. Barnett, Esq. Chief, Public Counsel &

Theodore F. Weiss, Esq. Legislative Section J. Gregory Copeland, Esq. Antitrust Section Baker & Botts U.S. Department of Justice 3000 One Shell Plaza P. O. Box 14141 Houston, TX 77002 Washington, D.C. 20044 Donald A. Kaplan, Chief Robert E. Bathen Robert Fabrikant, Asst. Chief R. W. Beck & Associates Energy Section P. O. Box 6817 Antitrust Division Orlando, Florida 82853 U.S. Department of Justice Washington, D.C. 20530 Mr. G. Holman King West Texas Utilities Company Nancy Luque P. O. Box 841 Susan'B. Cyphert Abilene, TX 79604

' Ronald H. Clark Frederick H. Parmenter John Carney, Esq.

Antitrust Division Well, Gotshal & Manges Energy Section 767 Fifth Avenue U. S. Department of Justice New York, NY 10022 Room 8413 -

414 lith Street, N.W.

Washington, D.C. 20530 s

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