ML20062A522

Petition for Leave to Intervene in Subj Facil Lic Mod Proceeding

ML20062A522
Person / Time
Site:	Trojan File:Portland General Electric icon.png
Issue date:	07/24/1978
From:	Munro S ENERGY, DEPT. OF
To:
Shared Package
ML20062A520	List: ML20062A515 ML20062A522
References
NUDOCS 7810140123
Download: ML20062A522 (13)

Text

.

,~

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE CO:CiISSION In the Matter of

)

)

PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY,

)

Docket No. 50-344

)

et al.

)

(Trojan Nuclear Plant)

)

PETITION FOR LEAVE TO INTERVENE I.

On May 26, 1978, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an This Order modifies Facility Order.for Modification of License.

Operating License No. NPF-1 and provides that,-upon the effective:. -.

date of the Order, the Trojan Nuclear Plant may be operated in, i

accordance with certain conditions, including completion of certain design modifications on or before June 1, 1979.

II.

With respect to operation of the Trojan Nuclear Plant pending l

completion of design modifications, this Order states, "[t]he NRC Staff has determined that the facility may be operated during the interim period without endangering the health and safety of the

(

public provided that certain conditions are i= posed."

I l

Ih HI\\%3 Gr-

III.

The effective date of the Order is the expiration of the period during which a, hearing may be requested or, in the event that a hear,ing is requested and held, the date specified in an order following the hearing.

IV.

On July 7, 1978, in response to requests for a hearing, the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued a Notice and Order for Special Prehearing Conference to take place on July 24 and 25, 1978, at which time the Board will consider petitions for leave to intervene in'this matter.

V.

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) respectfully petitions

~

the Commission and-the Board-for leave to intervene-in this matter. -

PETITIONER'S INTEREST VI.

- BPA is a regional marketing agency within the Depart =ent of Energy that markets energy produced by projects in the Pacific Northwest and transmits this energy pcimaril to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and

~

the portion of Montana that is west of the Continental Divide.

In addition, SPA has contractual arrangements with utilitics in Canada 2

Y M g m g p

0 U 'Y ' \\ f n wy g

and the Pacific Southwest providing for the acquisition and sale of surplus energy.

VII.

BPA has acquired the capability of the City of Eugene, Oregon's 30 percent ownership share of the Trojan Nuclear Plant and is obligated l

to pay Eugene's share of all of the annual costs of the Trojan Nuc ear Plant, whether or not the Plant is completed, operable, or operating and notwithstanding the suspension, reduction, or curtailment of the BPA's projected share of these costs is approximately Plant's output.

$25 million per year.

MANNER IN WHICH PETITIONER'S INTEREST MAY BE AFFECTED_

VIII.

If the Trojan Plant is not permitted to operate until after design modifications are completed, BPA's-interest will be adversely affected in the following ways:

BPA will be deprived of 30 percent of the energy that i

1.

could be produced by the Trojan Nuclear Plant.

BPA is obligated to pay 30 percent of the annual costs 2.

of the Trojan Nuclear Plant, whether or not the Plant is i

completed, operable, or operating and notwithstanding the suspension, reduction, or curtailment of the Plant's output.

the To satisfy its firm power commitments throughout 3.

BPA will have to acquire more expensive Pacific Northwest, 3

~

W

energy from another plant to replace that which is not produced by the Trojan Nuclear Plant.

4.

To obtain energy not produced by the Trojan Nuclear ' Project, BPA will have to withdraw from its industrial customers energy produced by another plant.

5.

The additional costs associated with acquisition of power to replace Trojan Nuclear Plant generation will be borne through BPA rates by its customers throughout the Pacific Northwest.

REASONS WHY PETITIONER SHOULD BE PERMITTED TO INTERVENE ~

IX.

Petitioner s,hould be permitted to intervene for the following reasons:

1.

BPA's interest in the Trojan Project and in supplying energy --

to the Pacific Northwest may be adversely aff.ected in the manners set forth in paragraph 11rt above---

2.

None of the present parties in this matter are regional entities th.at can represent the energy needs of the entire Pacific Northwest.

3.

As owner of 30 percent of the capacity of the Trojan Project and as an entity obligated to pay its portion of the annual costs of the Trojan Project, BPA is an indispensable party to this matter, as referred to in Rule 19 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

4

X.

This petition is supported by the affidavit of Hector J. Durocher which is attached hereto and incorporated herein as thought fully set forth.

Dated this i F day of July, 1978.

i Bonneville Power Administrator Subscribed and sworn to before me this 2 0 day of July,. 1978.

)

b

,7

~

Notary in and for.the State'of Oregon.

s

• A<79 (SEAL)

My commission expires: -

' 6 '.

i i

eO &

4 48 e sm.

Y v

copies to: Williamo, Lindblad, Brochl, sulliven, Gr'3*d, Frewing, Bach, Gill, Nyland j 'Christancen, Bushnell, Walt, P G E LEc..: L C EP'i'.

1 DGCU.:;.Ns 4

1 i

e U:IITED STATES CF A2 ERICA i

! i NUCLEAR REGULATORY CC OtISSION

'I 1

3.;

l t

f BEFORE THE C0:0tISS1CN

7

~

?

f l

5 !'

0 7

8 h,

's I

0 !!

l E

jn ;

In the Matter of

)

)

1

)

Docket No. 50-344 4

. PORTLu'D CE!TERAI. ELECTRIC COMP.ViY, ig et al.

)

j.,

)

33

.1 (Trojan Nuclear Plant)

)

t t

h AFFIDAVIT OF HECTOR J. DUROCER 11

~-

1, i.

STATE OF ORECON

)

) ss.

~

' ' ~ ~ - ~

County of Multnomah

)

. _, p; I, ECTCR J. DUROCHER, being first duly sworn, depose and say:

I a= the 37 i

k, g3 Assistant Ad=inistrator for Power Manage =ent of the 3cnneville Power il Administration (3PA) and as such I am responsible for or personally familiar 3,,,

'lj with the ad:ninistratica cf 3?A obligations relating to the :sarketing, l

,,9 exchange, and delivery of electric pcQr and energy from the Federal Colu=5ia a

l 21 8

River Power Syste= and the resources availabl6 to the Federal Colu=bia Rive-I 3.,

.s l

i 23 3 7

?3ge 1

• AFFIDAVIT OF ECTCR J. DUROCER e'

og i

i

5

)

i "G

l 8

f

},;

l l

l

,\\

....._.. ~........

r

I',

I H

C Pever System to serve chose obligations in accordance with the 3cnneville 1

h Project Act as amended (16 U.S.C. 5 832), the Flood Control Act of 19u. (16 i

g

]

U.S.C. 5 825(a)), and the Federal Colu=bia River Transmissien System Act (16

t I U. S.C. t-828 ).

l

Background

BPA is a Bureau of the Department of Energy (::0E).

Formed in 1937, 3?A I

now markets the electric power output of 30 Tederal hydroelectric projects in

• L l

t the Pacific Northwest.

In addition, 3PA has acquired the capability of the l'

City of Eugene, Oregon's 30 percent ownership share of the Trojan Project and D

j:

y,

! O,,,.

.. : -:5 the capability of the Washington Public Power Supply Systan's e

10

• /

[

l{anford Project, which uses byproduct steam' f rom the New Production Reactor 1l h

operated by DOE for nationa'l defense purposes.

12 All of BPA's power is marketed at wholesale rates to:

(1) publicly and I .

cooperatively cwned utilities; (2) investor-cuned utilities; (3) large 11 !!

)

industries; and (4) others including Federal agencies.

3PA's publicly and 1.,,

4 4

cooperatively cwned utility customers depend upon ZPA to meet all or a portica l

IG "!

g,'

of their p'ower requirements. The power that BPA markets serves approxi=ately 1,.

50 percent of the Pacific Northwest's firm pcwer require =ents.

l 3"

BPA's industri.tl custcmers include ten aluminum reduction plants with I

lu

.l i

about one-third of the nation's aluminum reduction espacity.

In addition, 3PA l*

serves the only nickel plant within the U.S. and eight other plants which produce wood products and che=icals.

These industries employ over 13,000 20 j.

people with annual wages and salarias of over $285 million. Their Pacific 23 '.

21.

Northwest expenditures exceeded 5762 millica in 1977.

i l

il I

8 25 -l L.

Page 2 - AFFID AVIT CF u.ECTCR J. DURCC* ER d

a OG j j

I

,i

.e 74 M4 4 44Ae3

o j

4 I

l I

I' l

t i

Kinds of Power Sold by BPA g

1

[

EPA markets different kinds of power.

Firm power is supplied by SPA t.o f

I i

customers under contracts which obligste BPA to make deliveries without regard I

j

+

to streamflow conditions on its system, the operating capabilities of its i

e 6

4 i e

generating plants, or other f actors except major natural forces.

,a In addition, BPA markets nonfirm pcwer. The availability of nonfirm power l

is dependent upon streamflow conditions being sufficiently high to enable I

2eneration of more electric power at Federal hydroelectric projects than such g

t-a projects are able to supply under the lowest recorded sequential streamflow g

D g li cond itions.

BPA may reduce or restrict delivery of nonfirm power to a ll 10 purchaser any ti=e for any reason without notice of reduction or n

interrup tion. 3PA's power sales contracts with its industrial customers 8

I provide that approximately one-fourth of the power SPA supplies to its l

13 j!

industrial customers is nonfirm power.

14 Conditions Adfectint Power Sueolv i

1.,s y

Electric pcwer generating resources of the Pacific Northwest are about 30 l

i-ji lei )j percent hydro resources and about 20 percent thermal resources. The =ost I

j, i,s y

single factor affecting the availability of electric power supply in

[

important I"

.l:.

the Pacific Northwest is the level of streamflows on Pacific Northwest rive rs,

j l')

j especially the Coluchia River and its tributaries. Other i=pertant factors 20 include the operation of thermal resources and the response of loads 8

i 21 !

(customers ' electric power demands) to temperatures and economic condiciens.

f l --

22 d d

The firm power BPA has available to meet its contractual obligations 23 $

of I

consists of firm pcuer from Federal hydreelectric projects and 30 percent 24

l 25

.1

)

Page 3 - AFFIDAVIT CF HEC CR J. DUROCHER 2G j s

ii

., s. -.

j

,,,.. -..,s s........

4 8

m

.s

'\\

I t

k

[

the Trojan Project's generation. Trojan Project g:.neration acquired by 3PA in the 12 month operating year beginning July 1,1978, included as a firm

)

~

resource, is 2.0 billion kilcuatthours. This is 269 average =egawatts for the g :l July 1978 through April 1979 period of expectsd operation.

4,

5 '

As indicated, BPA has acquired the capability of the Hanford Project.

3PA t

had sold this capability to its industrial ' customers and five investor-owned G

utilities, the former subject to 3PA's right to withdraw. Because of the 7

l current delays in returning the Trojan Project to service and the possibility 19 that the Trojan Project could remain out of service during this operating

,J j

year, BPA has exercised its option to withdraw from sale the 1978-1979 shares 10 I.

'l r

of the Hanford Project generation contracted to its industrial customers.

EPA 11 ;t will start to receive Hanford Project capability on about August 1, 1978.

12 l'

Economic I=nace on BPA 13

,k SPA's purchase of 30 percant of the capability of the Trojan Project 11 'i j

includes the provision that 3PA must pay its share of all of the annual costs 1.~,

9 i

of the Trojan Project, regardless of whether the project is operating.

• 16.]

g' There f ore, 3PA vill pay its share of Trojan Project costs as planned, even if 17

.g generation is not available frem the project.

'Je estimate that the fixed 3"

ji charaes relating to Trojan under non-operating conditions vould be 19 j q

approximately $25. million per year. This vould be a net cost to SPA's On :.

l d

cu s tomers through 3PA races.

1 U ll l

.l Unavailability of Trojan Project generation after August 1, 1973, vill not l

22.

i substantially a ffect the tot.21 amount of 3PA's firm pcver supply since 3PA has i

23 l

withdrawn the 1973-1979 Hanford Project generation from its industrial i:

l i

24 l

.i 25 q Page 4 - AFED AVIT OF H2CTCR J. DURCCUER i

5-i e

f e

i l

)

r

u. 6 u.

f i

I.

h f

However, the unavailability of ' Trojan Project generation from its cu s t omers.

I i

iI originally projected restart on May 21 until August 1,1973, will reduce the of nonfirm power 3PA has available for sale during the spring and a=ount

• 3 I

The amount of reduction will be equivalent to 3PA's share of Trojan sue:ner.

4 I 3

I 5

I' Project output. Current studies indicate that all of the nonfirm power thereby lost could be marketed. This nonfir:s power of approximately 470 I

million kilevatthours has a value at the applicable 3PA race of approximately 7 I i

$1.4 million. The total amount of energy that will be available to SPA frca 8 is

'8 the Hanford Project in the operating year consnencing July 1,1978, is 2.25 9 P I!

h billion kilowatthours. This is slightly more than the firm energy capability 10 :;

d BPA expected from its share'of the Trojan Project. The estimated cost of this 11

'I energy is 9 to 11 : sills per kilowatthour greater than the incremental cost to BPA of Trojan Project generatica. There fore, the estimated cost of acquiring 13 d,

its portion of the Hanford Project to replace unavailable Trojan Project 11 generation will b'e $20 to $25 million for 3PA. -

l a, il Econcaie I=cact on Utilities -

IG y The power available to 3PA from Trojan Project between May 21 and August 1 17

?

vould be purchased by utilities to displace higher cost generatica frem other i

l 18 l

sources. The ncremental cost of Trojan generation is about 3 mills per l

19 kilowatthour.

If this nonfirm power were surplus to the requirements of a

2a i

/

l Pacific Northwest utilities, it could be marketed to utilities in California, 8

l 21 l

!l thereby displacing oil fired ther=al generation costing approximacaly 25 mills 22 i!

h.

per kilcuatthour and providing a net incremental savings to the California 23

)

utilities of approximately $10.3 million.

l 1

21 a

!k i

25 :l page 5 - AFFIDAVIT OF RECTCR J. DUROCHER 20 i

i s

I

]

tm us s E

i 6

N

l l

Economic Imeacts on Industrial Custeners The contracts under which BPA supplies power to its large industrial 2

i customers provide that approximately one-fourth of the power, currently about f

800 av rage megawatts, is nonfirm power.

BPA's industrial customers had i '-

)

4 i

i G ;-

acquired a porcion of 3PA's Hanford Project generation to assure an available 1

power supply for operation of their plants if BPA were forced to curtail delivery of this nonfirm portion of their power supply. This replacement, or 7

.t

)

back-up, power supply is not new available to the industrial cusewers h

because, as indicated previously, BPA has withdrawn the sale.

In the evenc l

I 9

j thac Trojan Project generation is available to BPA, BPA intends to resci=d its 10

g j

withdrawal of sale of Hanford Project generacion.

11

,I If nonfira power is not' available to BPA's industrial customers from EPA, l

I

, 12 q h

13 '

they have the opcion of. purchasing higher cost replacemene power, if ava ilable, or curtailing planc production and employment. Our studies 11 indicate an approximace 40 percene probability that no 3PA nonfirm pcuer will -

1.,s se l

d be available for BPA's Industrial customers during the period August 16 1 81 'j through December 31, 1973. Assuming that replacement power were available, 17

,]

3 BPA estimates that it would cost 25 mills'per kilowatthour. After reducing 18 the replacement power cost of 25 mills per kilcwatchour by the cost of the l

lu

)

Hanford generation withdrawn by 3PA, estimaced at 12-14 mills per 20 !

l kil owa c ehour, the net cost to the industrial customers for the replace =ent of i

21 j

2.25 b: ?. lion kilowatthours actributable to the unavailability of Trojan 22 l

Project generation would be $25 to $29 million.

3 g

i 21 Page 6 - AFFIDAIT OF HZCTOR J. DUROCHER 2

J uu f

\\

.-s t

t v.n n s *+e

,,.. ~...,........

~

j i

3 i

1 [

If replacement energy is not available, loss of the Hanford energy would cause the industrial customers to curtail production about 12-1/2 weeks g

?-

earlier than would otherwise be necessary. We esti= ate that this vould result i

3 J 1

in loss of scme 600 to 800 jobs in direct employment and perhaps up to 2,000 l'

jobs in related services and industries.

In addition, loss of production and i

,l l

t shutdown and startup costs could result in further costs and losses in the

. G 1 0

l tens of millions of dollars.

7 i.

t i

. Su=marv 8 :

g l

The economic costs of the unavailability of BPA's 30 percent share of the 9

n 3

capability of the Trojan Project are as follows:

l:

10 g'

II I

1.

BPA:

t 12 il i

a4 Loss of nonfirm power sales from May 21 to August 1, 1978, would f'

g'l 13 be approximately $1.4 million.

11 3j b.

Additional cost to BPA for a porcion of the Hanford Project l

1.,s - p y

generation would be 520 to $25 million, depending on the actual-l h, operating costs for the year.

l I

l,e

l i

i d

c.-

The cost to 3PA of approximetely $25 million for the fixed and i

18 i

l standby cost of Trojan in a non-operating mode for 1 year.

3 3D :

2.

Utilities will not be able to purchase approximately 470 million 20 g'

l kilowatthours nonfirm power from 3PA that would otherwise be 21 ;

i' available if the Trojan Project operates.

These purchases would be e.,

displaced with oil fired ther=41 generation and at a net incre= ental 23 !

cost to California utilities of approxi=ately $10.3 millian.

I

)

21 g 11 25 g

,P ~

f 3

Page 7 - AFFIJ AVIT OF RECTCR J. DUROCKZR 2G i

.t s

I r

I 7pm Nm s W68

..sr'***

t

i i

)'

l i

l 3.

Industrial customers, if nonfirm power is not available, would have 3

replacemenc power costs of between $25 and 529 million greater than a

~

the cost for che Hanford Project withdrawn from chem.

If replacement 3

i l

power is noc available, chey would reduce operacions and employmenc 4

l with attendant costs and losses.

5 G

I 7

.Lb l'*f l

f#

g

~f f

HECTOR J. pUROCIER l

Assistant Administrator l

.)

i for Power Management i

is Zonneville Power Administracion 10 g

2

• l i

'l II

]

Subscribed and Suom to before me this day of L.-

1978.

12 i 13 i 14

.,,(, c / g[ d.

~

~

1 Notary Public for Oregon I

My Commission expires // - / f-Fr.'

!i I ti l

.I I

li e

17.i j

i t

I8 i

l i

l'J i

i 20 lI l

!l

l-

.. g

~

m.

I 23 ]

24 i

':S

{

Page 8 - AF7!O AVI CF HICTCR J. DURCCHER

,, u, i

i l

j r._ y-. u.

....._....,.....4...

_ _