ML20052A385

Amended Petition to Intervene Delineating Nature of Petitioner Interest & Specific Aspects of Proceeding to Which Intervention Is Sought.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML20052A385
Person / Time
Site:	Skagit
Issue date:	04/20/1982
From:	Thatcher T NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION, OREGON, STATE OF
To:	Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel
References
NUDOCS 8204280286
Download: ML20052A385 (8)

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c~ f UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 82 pa 23 R203 NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In The Matter Of Puget Sound )

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Power and L'Jht, et al. ) Docket Nos.

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Amended Application For Construction) STN 50-522, , 45 qs -

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Permits and Facility Licenses, ) g g

) REcyg,gO SKAGIT/IIANFORD NUCLEAR PROJECT ) 2 pp -

AMENDED PETITION TO INTERVENE Pursuant to 10 C.F.R. S 2.714 (a) (3) and in response to the Board's Order of April 5, 1982, the National Wildlife Federation and the Oregon Environmental Council jointly file this amended petition to intervene in the above-captioned proceedings. In support of this petition, petitioners would show the following:

I. NAME AND ADDRESS OF THE PERSON REPRESENTING PETITIONERS TO UHOM COMMUNICATIONS CONCERNING THIS PROJECT SHOULD BE ADDRESSED:

Terence L. Thatcher Pacific Northwest Resources Center Law Center, 1101 Kincaid Eugene, Oregon 97403 II. NATURE OF PETITIONERS' INTEREST: EFFECT OF COMMISSION ACTION National Wildlife Federation, 1412 Sixteenth St., N.W.,

Washington, D.C. 20036 (NWF), the nation's largest private conser-vation organization, is dedicated to the wise use and conservation of the nation's natural resources. Over 40,000 of its associate d

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members live in the four-state Pacific Northwest region. In addi-tion, NWF has. affiliate organizations in each of the Northwest states: Idaho Wildlife Federation, Montana Wildlife Federation, Oregon-Wildlife Federation, and Washington State Sportsmen's Council.

Many of NWF's members live within fifty miles of the proposed project; their health and, recreational interests could be adversely affected by construction and~ operation of the plants. Many other of NUF's members use and enjoy the natural resources that could potentially be affected by construction and operation of the Skagit/

Hanford Plant,and, in particular, the Columbia River and its fish and wildlife resources, and live in the service districts of the sponsoring utilities ~.

Oregon Environmental Council (OEC), 2637 S.W. Water Street, Portland, Oregon 97201, is a broad-based coalition of groups and individuals, organized to protect the' environment of the state of Oregon. Some of OEC's approximately 1900 members live within fifty miles of the proposed Skagit/Hanford Project; their health and safety interests could br adversely affected by construction and operation of the plants. Many of OEC's members also live in the Portland metropolitan area, use and enjoy the natural resources that could potentially be affected by construction and operation of the Skagit/Hanford Project and, in particular,-the fish and wildlife resources of the Columbia River, and are served by the two Oregon-based sponsoring utilities.* /

• / The responsible officials of each petitioning organization.have authorized this petition to intervene. In addition, the following individual members of petitioners have authorized NUF and [contd.)

Both NWF and OEC have interests under the National Environ-mental Policy Act, 42 U.S.C. S4321 et seg. and the Atomic Energy Act, 42 U.S.C. 52011 et seq., which they seek to protect through this intervention. See Calvert Cliffs' Coordinating Committee, Inc.

v. United States A.E.C., 449 F.2d 1109 (D.C. Cir. 1971). Commission approval of the Skagit/Hanford Project application would signifi-cantly increase the chances that the project will be built and operated with the following impacts on petitioners' interests:

Construction and operation of the Skagit/Hanford Project will entail the risk of accidental release of fission ~ products, which would adversely affect the health, safety, and recreational interests of NWF and'OEC members living near or downwind or downriver from the plants. NWF members Willis and Ruth Hicks live within 33 air miles of the proposed nuclear plants; OEC member Doyle Hunt lives within 45 miles of the projects. Construction and operation of the plants will lead to expanded use of the Columbia River hydropower projects for peaking power, resulting in serious adverse impacts on the anadromous fish resources of the Columbia River. This would diminish the availability of fish to the many OEC and NWF members members who fish for Columbia River salmonids and steelhead trout,

[contd.] OEC to represent them in this matter. For NWF: Mr. and Mrs. Willis Hicks, 205.Fifth Avenue, Mabton, Washington 98925; Pearl Andersor, 1865 N.E. 129th Pl., Portland, Oregon 97230; Barbara Breunig, 14140 S.E. Rhone St., Portland, Oregon 97236; Lawrence L..Sowa, 17225 S.E. McLoughlin, Milwaukie, Oregon 97222.

For OEC: Doyle Hunt, 1083 West Highland Ave., Hermiston, Oregon 97838; Charlotte Corkran, 130 N.W. ll4th, Portland, Oregon 97229; Walter McMonies, 2321 S.W. Sherwood Dr., Portland, Oregon 97201; Marguerite Smyth, 6261 S.W. 47th Pl., Portland, Oregon 97221. Affidavits of these individual members will be shortly filed with the Commission to demonstrate their interes'ts.

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• both for recreation and as a source of food. In particular, OEC members Charlotte Corkran, Walter McMonies, and Marguerite Smythe, and NWF members Pearl Anderson and Barbara Breunig use and enjoy the Columbia River fishery that would be adversely affected.

Construction and operation of the Skagit/Hanford Project will increase the shipment of radioactive materials through the Pacific Northwest region, thus increasing the risks to the environmental necessities.and amenities used and enjoyed by numbers of OEC and NWF. Operation of the Project will expand the volume of radioactive waste requiring storage in this nation, at a time when no satis-factory long-term storage arrangements have yet to be made, threaten-ing the long-term health of the environment and petitioners' members' use thereof. Operation of the Project will increase the risk of catastrophic nuclear accident which could cause significant environ-mental damage and danger to the health of NUF and OEC members living near the Project and throughout the region. Finally, invest-ment of billions of dollars in the construction and operation of the Skagit/Hanford plant will limit the funds available in the' 1

region for more environmentally acceptable and cost-effectite energy 4

alternatives, such as conservation, will unnecessarily and signi-ficantly increase the electrical rates of those of petitioners' members living within the service district of the sponsoring utilities, and could significantly increase the rates of all the Pacific Northwest members of NWF and OEC if the sponsoring utilities sold the output of the Project to the Bonneville Power Administra-tion. All the individual members of NWF and OEC listed in this petition who have authorized'NWF and OEC to represent their i

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. l interests purchase.their electrical power from either Portland General Electric or Pacific Power and Light, two of the Project's co-sponsors.

III. SPECIFIC ASPECTS OF PROCEEDING AS TO WHICH PETITIONERS SEEK TO INTERVENE Intervenors seek through their' intervention to present evidence and legal arguments and conduct examination of applicants' experts to demonstrate the.following:

(1) that the applicants have relied on an inflated calcu-lation of the demand for electrical power in justifying pursuit of their license and have inaccurately calculated the impacts of delay or denial of the construction permit; (2) that the applicants' benefit-cost analysis is funda-mentally flawed by, among other things, use of misleadingly low estimates of the financial and environmental costs of the Project and by use of an inflated assumption of the Project's power avail-ability and reliability benefits for the Region which, in fact, possesses significant, less-costly alternatives for providing the same or greater benefits.

(3) that there are cost-effective, environmentally prefer-able alternatives capable of meeting the energy demand which the Project is designed to serve even under the applicants' Project cost assumptions and that the availability of alternatives is even greater if more accurate Project cost figures are used; (4) that acquisition of the Project by the Bonneville Power Administration pursuant to the Pacific Northwest Electric Power Planning and Conservation Act, P.L.96-501, is highly unlikely, and

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that inability of'BPA to purchase the project is a central considera-tion in the decision to proceed or halt the project; (5)' that applicant has failed adequately to identify, discuss, and evaluate the significance.of the environmental impacts of_ construction ~and operation of the plant, including,-but not limited to, impacts on.the fish and wildlife resources of the Columbia River,' dangers of catastrophic accidents, .either in fuel and waste transportation or in plant operation, and the impact on the economic and environmental viability of the project from the continuing problem of devising satisfactory long-term storage arrangements for nuclear waste material;1that if those impacts are fully assessed the P'oject r appears even less desirable when compared to available alternatives; (6) that the Commission may not legally _ issue a permit or license for the proposed Project until adequate long-term nuclear waste storage facilities and procedures are established, or, at a minimum, until the conclusion of the Commission's on-going; Waste Disposal Confidence proceedings; without establishment of those facilities, or, at least, without a favorable conclusion of the Waste Disposal Confidence proceedings, the Commission cannot find that it can reasonably be assured that the activities authorized by the license can be conducted without endangering the health and

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safety of the public, 10 C.F.R. S 50.35 (a) (4) , nor can it fully assess the environmental impacts of those activities > _suant to NEPA.

IV. CONCLUSION For all the foregoing reasons, petitioners National Wildlife

1 Federation and Oregon Environmental Council respectfully request that they be granted leave to intervene in this proceeding, with the right to have notice of and appear at all pre-hearing confer-ences and hearings that are held, and that they may introduce evidence ~and submit argument in support of their interests as out-lined in this petition. b DATED this ((d} day of April, 1982.

Res ectfully submitted

,fD AA Terence L. Thatcher Pacific Northwest Resources Center Law Center, 1101 Kincaid Eugene, Oregon 97403 (503) 686-3823 Counsel for Petitioners STATE OF OREGON )

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County of Lane )

Terence L. Thatcher, being first duly sworn, deposes and says that he is an attorney for National Wildlife Federation and Oregon Environmental Council; that he is authorized to make the foregoing Petition to Intervene; that he has read the same and knows the contents thereof and that all statements contained therein are true and correct to the best of his knowl ge, information an belief.

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Terence L. Thatcher Subscribed and sworn to before me this , ~/4 4( day of April, 1982.

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' b { ll ,l Notary Public fbf Oregonj

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My Commission Expires: 1/7/83 L

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby. certify that I have this day served the foregoing Petition to Intervene, together with Notice of Appearance, by mail, postage prepaid, upon the following:

Executive Legal Director, Richard L. Black U.S. Nuclear Regulatory' Commission Washi..gton, D.C. 20555 Coalition.for Safe Power j F. Theodore Thomsen Suite 527, Governor Building Perkins, Coie, Stone, Olsen & Williams 408 S.W. Second Ave.

1900 Washington Building Portland, Oregon 97204 1325 Fourth Avenue Seattle, Washington 98 Dated this,2b . day of April, 1982.

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o- x-Terence L. Thatcher Counsel for Petitioners j

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