ML19309H003
| ML19309H003 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | La Crosse File:Dairyland Power Cooperative icon.png |
| Issue date: | 02/19/1980 |
| From: | Proxmire W SENATE |
| To: | NRC OFFICE OF CONGRESSIONAL AFFAIRS (OCA) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19309G998 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8005080141 | |
| Download: ML19309H003 (5) | |
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?Cnifeb Sfafes Senafe February 19, 1980 To ensure proper handling please return all
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Don Chamb1ee
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Congressional Liaison
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Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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Washington, D.C.
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Please respond to the attachec inquiry in
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February 1, 1980 f
E.]iD li Rt li Dear $S.vr744 c)(/W//$
Ne are writing to inform you of the latest circumstances surrounding-the continued operation of the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBNR), the nuclear generating facility in Genoa, Wisconsin.
Wer ask that you take responsible action in light of present conditions.
The Genoa plant is a very small (46 MW) facility owned and operated by Dairyland Power Cooperative (DPC).
Although most of the capital O
costs of LACBWR have been incurred by DPC ratepayers, DPC has..
consistently operat6d the plant at a loss due to its small size and low capacity.
LACBWR would not be in operation at present j) without government subsidy and light-handed regulation.
At';.this time two specific issues are of paramount concern to us.
The Three Mile Island - 2 recommendations (NUREG-oS73) call for nnmerous retrofits to the plant, ranging from major to minor, and will be extremely costly.
Additionally, we are concerned that the operation of LACBWR is at this moment in direct violation of NRC u
regulations (10 CFR 50 App. A.I.2).
This regulation requires that;
" structures, systems and components shall be designed to withstand the effects of earthquakes... without loss of capability to perform their safety function".
Since March of 1979 the NRC has been aware that LACBUR cannot withstand an earthquake of the magnitude required by technical specifications.
However, rather than enforce t)is '
regulation and order the plant shut down, the FRC_has permitted D?C to continue operation for months and thus giving them the cpportunity time and again to prove the reactor design is'within the margin of safety.
To date DPC has been unable to satisfy the NRC with regard to this matter.
Dairyland's footdragging and complaints regarding the expense involved in both the abovementioned retrofits point to several problens.
Your office should be aware of the NRC's continued inability or unwillingness to deal decisively with the nuclear power industry and to enforce NRC regulations in a timely and.
reasonable manner.
A Motion to Suspend Dairyland's license to
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operate LACBNR, filed May 5, 1979 under lo CFR 2.206 concerning the seismic issue is still unresolved no response has been made.
In direct violation of NEPA requirements with regard to environmental impact statements, LACBNR has operated for the past ten years without a full-term operating license.
Thus local citizens are denied the
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review process and protection afforded by NEPA.
Despite the NRC's highly publici. zed " openness policy" most substantive meetings are held in Wash. D.C. atuthe utility's discretion, which effectively precludes citizen participation.
Moreover, last month DPC officials cancelled an importrnt meeting when they were informed that local citizens were planning to attend.
(See attachment)
Dairyland Power has apparently chosed to continue to operate in spite of its exceedingly low output and high fixed costs rather decommissioning.than face the problems and unknowns associated with its e This decision means that a few last MW's will be related to decommissioning. squeezed from the facility while inflation ever these costs, Future ratepayers will be charged for Such action wthough the plant will be producing no benefit for them.
ratepayers m. ill be a violation of the utility law principle that and useful" to them.during the pay period.y be charged only for equipme Such costs and charges will increase with each passing year of inflation and will fall upon future ratepa commodities, yers already burdened with high costs of other including the then higher costs of energy.
refusal to shut down the DPC's pocr long-range planning. plant is an act both of cowardice and very.
It's action today.has the effect of concealing from present ratepayers and investors the true costs associated with nuclear power generation, and comes at a time when these costs a high priority in the United States.the TMI 2 accide Clearly, the economic viability of this plant is in question and taxpayer investments (government costs T/
These costs should be made public, as w) ell as the names of publicin L officials instrumental in allocating said funds.
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lJ J-In light of the above we would consider the following actions on ' q your part responsive to our concerns:
1.
Sponsorship of statutory or regulatory changes requiring that NRC meetings with local utility officials be held in the affected locality - not in Washington.
2 Work for disclosure of all government monies invested in the plant.
3 NRC revision to insure proper timely enforcement of regulations and NEPA.
4 Sponsorship of government action to close all plants without full-term licenses.
5 Sponsorship legislation mandating that costs of decommissioning be anticipated by utilities and charged to present day ratepayers on a pro-rated basis.
Your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated.
hope these issues are of concern to you as well.
We Siiicerely, j % f,
$507 SM)T ktli',
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wih NRC. oos"oon'ec 3
By DAVID STOEFFLER
..s.with the intervenors over the L
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Of the Tribune Staff.
plant.
By DAVID STOEFFLER
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Of the Tribune Staff T
He said that hearings. are
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Dairy!and Power Cooperative is' trying to ]
A meeting between Dairy!and demanding in terms of staff time Power Cooperative and the Nu-that must be devoted to prepar-
- find out if it is going to be able to break even fi-l clear Regubtory Commission on leg for tem and attending hancially on its Genoa nuclear power plant.
i the future of the Genoa nuclear them, and that past heanngs And, among cther things, the utility hopes to I
power plant has been postponed. have been "very discouraging" c! car the air about the possibility that a & mag-I as far as public opinion towards Dzityland has requested a meeting Friday in DO f.
The meeting., which was to be the pbnt.
mg earthquake could occur at the Genoa pkr.t.
today in Washington, D.C., was
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chief of operations for the Nuclear Regulatory
'I postponed at the request of Dairyland has unti! Tuesday t'a Washington, D.C., with Harold Denton, the Dairyland following notification conymce the NRC that there are -
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' Thursday that the plant had re-n,o problerns with seismic condi.
Ccmmission, and o$er NRC officials about the status and future of the Genoa plant.
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ceived permission to expand the tions at the plant.;
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t capacity of its used fuel storage Acccrding to Richard Shimshak, plant super-WeII -
intendent, Dairy!and hopes to get answers to a-
'.A need to assess the expan.,' experts cannot show -the NR numbcr of questions regarding the plant and its 6 ~~.
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sion's effect on the plant's future that there,is no danger of an
!uture as far as gmernment regulatory require-
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pByed a part in calling off the earthquake causeg damage to ments are concerned..
rneeting. But also entering into the plant then.the NRC;or will n "We're confident that we have a safe plant,"
issue an order that wJi t Shimshak said Wednesday, but he added that Q
the decision were doubts by the question is "where do the regulatory re.
5 Dhiryland officials that they Dairyland to pursue costly earth-quirements fina!!y price the plant right out of l
Were prepared enough for a quake prevention measures.
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meetir:g that could be attended
-If the NRC issues that order, ni te-o"
,o he p5nt is facing a number of expensive by newsmen and by members of it also may mean there will be a the Coulee Region Energy Coali. public hearing on the issue.
";uiprnent and rnanpower additions.in-the l
wake of hst year's Three.Nii!e Island accident h~.
tion. a La Crosse-based anti-
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In Pennsylvania - additions that NRC officials LZJ
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nuclear group.
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have estimated may cost each nuclear plant, no
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Three members of the coali-a matter how small, between 315 million and $25
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tion planned to attend the meet-j i
ing, leaving Wednesday night to e g
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" With costs that 'arge, Shimshak said the 46,
gM drive to Washington, D.C.
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megawatt Genca p'. ant would have to run a long According to Richard Shim-I "T'U (W
~4 t:me in crder tg rnake up the expense.
shak, Genoa plant superintend.
L In addition. Entmshak said, the NRC is "un-
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ent, the presence of these people 3
0 and newsmen at the meeting may have obstructed the pur-g[/g g pose of the meeting, that being for Dairyland to get some an-swers from the NRC about what D*h finai.cial demands are going to be placed on the plant
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~ int brought to a state of otsarrayI, "We would not have the meet l
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tiv th* mee of the interye.
, y_ who her - adamart --d Q%
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I arrcert view" about t' e condi.
a=*J
/l tion of the Genot *nt.
-i But, Snimsnak said, one NRC I
official had warned that Dairy-
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land would not find the answers f
it was looking for anyway, be-a cause it was not presentmg any
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plans - just seekmg answers.
. As a result Shirashak said Dairyland is conside..ing other I
methods of pursuing the infor-i DO
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At this point. he sa'cid Dairy-D hnd will probably prepare a let-d
,ter presenting specific ideas on
.the plant's future and additions a
'that might be needed.
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- Then a rneeting could be held l'
Iwith the NRC on the iter".s in the l
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_ letter.
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- Shimshak said that the letter b
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- would become public, and al,
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'though that might cause some
'croblems. it would avoid getting
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Dairybnd into another hearmg g'
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