ML20052H319

Long Island Assoc of Commerce & Industry Statement Presented at 820414 Hearing Supporting Facility Due to Importance to Long Island Economy

ML20052H319
Person / Time
Site:	Shoreham File:Long Island Lighting Company icon.png
Issue date:	04/14/1982
From:	Barry P AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:
References
NUDOCS 8205200211
Download: ML20052H319 (3)

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• 11747 + (2 :0) 752-5500 STATEMENT PRESENTED TO THE FEDERAL NUCLEAR REGULATORY C0hBIISSION HEARING APRIL 14, 1982 BY PETER F. BARRY PRESIDENT LONG ISLAND ASSOCIATION OF C0FBIERCE 6 INDUSTRY D$D s

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Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen. My name is Peter Barry, and I am President of the Long Island Association of Commerce 6 Industry. Thank you for this opportunity to testify before this hearing.

The LIA represents approximately 1,700 business firms,

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organizations, and trade associations. Our members are highly diverse, ranging from large manufacturers to small businesses, from mature firms to emerging industries, and we have long supported LILCO's Shoreham nuclear power plant because of its importance to the economic well being of Long Island.

We are dismayed at the success a tiny minority has had in delaying a facility badly needed to help stabilize our Island's economy. A handful of people, using tactics that were frequently questionable, have managed to add years to this power plant's construction schedule and hundreds of millions of dollars to its costs. This small group of obstructionists is now seeking to add to their success by delaying the license needed to operate the Shoreham power station.

What more is there to be proved at Shoreham? The plant's safety devices, the quality of its construction, and both the training and integrity of the staff that will operate this power plant have been extensively tested, and the tests have successfully passed.

! Continually overlooked in the investigations of the power plant's construction is Long Island's need for this facility.

Our Island's economy requires the measure of independence from foreign oil producers that this plant will provide. While energy costs have cased slightly in recent months, Long Island's manufacturers and other employers need far more than a temporary respite from sharply increased energ/ costs. We need the potential l

for a long-term solution to the energy cost problem, and nuclear energy offers that potential.

o g STATBIENT PAGE 2 Long Island has many attributes that make it attractive to a manufacturer looking for a site to relocate, or to open a branch operation. It has a highly skilled labor force. It is a substantial market for many products. It is also at the core of America's largest single market, the Boston-to-Washington megaopolis. It has a variety ci property zoned for industrial use, as well as many buildings already available for manufacturing operations. Finally, it has a quality of life that is well above much of the rest of the nation.

What it needs to support the desirable qualities I have just listed is a dependable source of economical energy. Energy is a basic cost in the making of every product. If this cost can be maintained within reasonable limits, that factor in itself will be a strong attraction to a manufacturer.

Over the past quarter of a century, commercial nuclear power plants have demonstrated repeatedly that they can provide economical energy at reasonable prices. Throughout New England, in the south, in the midwest, in the far west, and right here in New York State, nuclear power plants have set records for dependable, trouble-free operation.

Long Island's economy needs the reliability, the energy cost stability that the Shoreham nuclear power station can provide.

Alarmists, possible well intentioned, but certainly misinformed, have delayed for several years the benefits that Shoreham can provide. The need for these benefits is more urgent now than ever be fo re. There should be no more delays at Shoreham.

ms 4/13/82