ML19331A269
| ML19331A269 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Wolf Creek, Callaway  |
| Issue date: | 05/16/1980 |
| From: | Danforth J, Dole R, Eagleton T, Kassebaum N SENATE |
| To: | Ahearne J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19331A267 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8007110571 | |
| Download: ML19331A269 (4) | |
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osio May 16, 1980 Es=
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Mr. John F. Ahearne
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Dear Mr. Chairman:
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We are writing you to express concern about the
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- :;g delays in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review glJ;;l of the operating license applications of two nuclear power plants being constructed in Missouri and Kansas:
[E=g; the Callaway Plant, Unit.L, owned by Union Electric
...~:1 Company, and the Wolf Creek Generating Station, Unit i3 No. 1, owned by Kansas Gas and Electric Company, Kansas
!....;s City Power and Light Company, and Kansas Electric Power Eilik Cooperative, Incorporated.
These plants represent
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important assets to the more than 4.2 million consumers which these utilities serve.
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- 22 e In spite of the fact that the operating license Nh applications for Callaway and Wolf Creek were filed pi:g;:5 seven and three months ago, respectively, we have been tij)sg advised that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
[]2E3 has not even begun its acceptance review of the app 11-ms=,
cations.
NRC's failure to carry out its review in a g:; _
timely manner is unacceptable to us.
It increases the E=m=
costs of electricity supplied to our constituents; IE3"'
jeopardizes the continuity and reliability of the i
1 electric service provided to the customers of Union Electric; and disrupts the utilities' construction i
scheduling.
!E Union Electric's application for an operating h
license at the Callaway site was submitted to the NRC E=. &
in October 1979.
After submission of the application,
[.C;F the NRC informed Union Electric that it would not be Es able to perform an acceptance review of the application f.y ~
until a later but unspecified date.
This position was d..
reaffirmed in recent meetings between utility and NRC
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representatives in April 1980.
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Esa Mr. Jchn F. Ahacrna TC Page Two E[
May 16, 1980 55 5 In the meantime, work on the Callaway plant continues.
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Union Electric informs us that on March 31, 1980, the
- 2 Callaway plant was about 64 percent complete and that gas
$743 million had been spent.
Union Electric predicts that
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it will be in a position to load fuel by April 1982, EEE only 23 months from now.
This is less than the time
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normally required for operating-license reviews prior to the Three Mile Island accident.
Union Electric further estimates that for each month in which operation of the EEE Callaway plant is delayed, it will incur additional con-struction costs of about $3.5 million.
To that must be EZE added replacement energy costs estimated at about $7 million per month and increased financing costs of $11 million per
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mcath.
These unnecessary costs, of course, must be passed g;;
on to Union Electric's customers.
Moreover, without the p::
availability of the Callaway plant in 1983, Union Electric's Ugg proj'ected power reserve margin will fall below 15 percent, B@@
increasing the likelihood of energy shortages (brownouts EfE or blackouts) in its service area.
[Wij The Wolf Creek plant is in a similar position.
The 55%
application for an operating license was filed in February peg 1980.
Kansas Gas and Electric, and Kansas City Power and EE%
Light have received letters from the NRC advising that the Bh5 acceptance review of their application will be delayed EEs indefinitely.
As of March 31, 1980, the Wolf Creek Plant E22 was about 58 percent complete and $623 million had been EEE-spent.
Fuel loading is expected to begin in October 1982.
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KGSE, and KCPL estimate that for each month the Wolf Creek operation is delayed, they will incur additional construc-sea tion costs of about $5.5 million.
Replacement energy costs
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and increased financing costs will cach add another
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$10 million per month to the total cost of the proj ect.
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Moreover, the availability of Wolf Creek is an essential P=
clement of a program begun in 1972, to sui;;1:cte coal and nuclear-fueled power for the KGSE's present gas and oil
.!!!i fired capacity.
Operation of Wolf Creek would result in ps an annual savings to KGEE equivalent to approximately EfE; two million barrels of oil.
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[5Ei Licensing delays will result in very large additional T==
costs.
The NRC increases the potential for damage by postponing indefinitely its review of the license applica-tions.
Without some certainty'as to when and how the NRC's
[jj) review of these license applications will take place, the
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utilities cannot properly schedule construction and pre-
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operational activities.
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F3E Mr. John F. Ahearne Page Three jffi May 16, 1980 p.M EE Emlk Both the callaway and Wolf Creek plants are part of ERI the Standardized Nuclear Unit Power Plant System (SNUPPS)
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program.
The SNUPPS program itself was established to
$55 achieve the important safety and operational benefits i;;r associated with standardization.
"Three Mile Island:
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A Report to the Commissioners and the Public" at pp.144 45 55 ;
(the Rogovin Report). has endorsed nuclear power plant standardization.
In view of this recognition of the value
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of standardizing nuclear power plants, the NRC should en-
- 7" courage such standardization through an active and timely gsst.
licensing review of SNilPPS plants such as the Callaway i;;=3 and Wolf Creek plants.
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The NRC has a responsibility to facilitate the safe h==
development of nuclear power as a part of the solution b===
pis to our energy problems.
The December 1979 report to the Ex:~q 4
National Academy of Sciences by the Committee on Nuclear and Alternativo Energy System (CONAES) concluded that F1-.
coal and nuclear power are the only large-scale alterna-
[EEi tives to oil and gas M this century.
It noted that E 59 "a balanced combination of coal and nuclear generated
[f.gh electricity is preferable--on environmental and economic sssE grounds--to the predominance of either."
By delaying L--y indefinitely the licensing of plants such as Callaway
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and Wolf Creek, the NRC will hamper the timely development E==d of the nuclear option, y_g
.4 We recognize that the adverse impact of the Three 1
Mile Island accident has been profound.
However, your EZZ3 AdviJory Committee on Reactor Safeguards and President i.__.,
Carter have recognized that the pause in licensing, E----
following.the accident at Three Mile Island, should not E==
. continue for an extended period of time.
It is thus fisas surprising to us that more than six months after release hissf of the Eumeny Commisrisa Rer ", and five months since e=4 transmittal of the Rogovin Group Report, the NRC is still Fii using the accident at Three Mile Island as an excuse for
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additional-licensing delays.
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Mr. John F.
Ahearne T. ]
Page Four May 16, 1980
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For the foregoing reasons, we urge you to inquire R.
into the delays surrounding the 1.icensing of these 95h plants, and to direct the NRC Staff to initiate and
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develop a schedule for the timely review and licensing gel of the Callaway and Wolf Creek plants.
- ...=e Sincerely, Ih
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