ML19341D599
| ML19341D599 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Limerick  |
| Issue date: | 02/19/1981 |
| From: | Harold Denton Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation |
| To: | Cohen D PHILADELPHIA, PA |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 8103050989 | |
| Download: ML19341D599 (2) | |
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Mr. David Cohen Councilman City Hall City of Philadelphia Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Dear Mr. Cohen:
Your letter of January 8,1981 to Commissioner Hendrie concerning the Limerick Nuclear Power Plant has been referred to me for response.
The resolution passed by the City Council of Philadelphia was received by the NRC on June 18, 1980. On June 26, 1980, in a letter from Mr. A. Schwencer to Mr. George Schwartz, we acknowledged receipt of the resolution and indicated that we will keep the resolution in our active files for consideration in futtfr?
reviews.
Such a review will begin upon recef ot of an application from the Philadelphia Electric Company for an operating license. This is not expected to occur.until late February or in March 1981.
In our initial review of the operating license application we will determine whether or not the application is sufficiently complete to initiate the more detailed safety and environmental reviews that are necessary before making a determination on whether to issue or deny an operating license.
If the appli-cation is complete we will place a notice in the Federal Register that the application for the operating license has been determined to be acceptable.
This Federal Register Notice will allow interested groups and individual citizens to petition the appropriate Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to participate in the proceedings. You as an individual, or the City Council on behalf of the City of Philadelphia may petition the Board to be admitted as a party to the proceedings.
I would like to point out that a period of two years or more are generally required from the acceptance of an application until a decision is made relative to the issuance o' an operating license.
Assuming that the application for the operating license is submitted in March 1981, I would expect the earliest acceptance would be in May 1981 and the Federal Register Notice, mentioned above, being published between mid-May and M d-June.
We have received a number of letters concerning the diversion of water from the Delaware River to support the Limerick Generating Station during periods of low flow in the Schuykill River. We also received similar comments in our public meeting of December 9,1980 in ?ottstown, Pennsylvania.
The proposal to use Delaware River water was addressed in our Final Environmen-a tal Statement issued in November 1973. The allocation of water in the Delaware River Basin is the responsibility of the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC).
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a 2-fir. David Cohen Although we follow the actions of the Commission very closely insofar as their decisions affect the operations of the nuclear power plants in the basin, we have no control over the final decisions made by the DRBC. At the time that the construction permits were issued for the Limerick Generating Station the DRBC was considering the Tock Island reservoir proposal. One of the provisions of the provisional permit given to Philadelphia Electric at that time required the construction of a smaller reservoir should the Tock Island project be disapproved.
As you know the Tock Island project was not approved.
It is our understanding that Philadelphia Electric along with six other applicants have applied to the DRBC to build a reservior in Warren County, New Jersey.
It is also our understanding that one purpose of this reservoir is to maintain sufficient flow at the Trenton Gauge to permit withdrawal from the Delaware at Point Pleasant to support the Limerick Generating Station. We will be looking at this question very closely in our review of the operating license application.
If you desire more detailed information on the reservoir in Warren County, known as the Merrill Creek Reservoir, I suggest you contact the Delaware River Basin Comnission in West Trenton, New Jersey.
I want to thank you for your letter of January 8,1981 and assure you that it, along with the resolution of the City Council of Philadelphia and other cor-respondence, will be retained in our active files for consideration during our review of the operating license application.
Sincerely, M m '"sen?
' a r. -
Harold R. Denton, Director Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation 1
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