ML20127K112

Supplemental Motion for Stay of ASLB Order Authorizing Issuance of Full Power Ol.Full Power Operation Will Make Design Change & Backfitting More Dangerous,Difficult & Expensive.W/Certificate of Svc

ML20127K112
Person / Time
Site:	Limerick
Issue date:	05/20/1985
From:	Zitzer P LIMERICK ECOLOGY ACTION, INC.
To:	NRC ATOMIC SAFETY & LICENSING APPEAL PANEL (ASLAP)
Shared Package
ML20127K059	List: ML20127K054 ML20127K072 ML20127K112
References
NUDOCS 8505220045
Download: ML20127K112 (8)

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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING APPEAL BOARD DOCMETED U3NRC

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In'the Matter-of~ )

) '85 MAY 21 N0:46 PHILADELPHIA ELECTRIC COMPANY ) Docket Nos. 50-352

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-(LimerickEGenerating Station, ) 50-353r,r,ru[3pgr EccMOD,f ' e Units 1 and 2).

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SUPPLEMENT TO LIMERICK ECOLOGY ACTION'S MOTION FOR A STAY OF THE ASLB'S ORDER

. AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF.A FULL POWER OPERATING LICENSE FOR.THE LIMERICK GENERATING STATION

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Limerick Ecology Action, Inc. (LEA) hereby supplerents its May 16, 1985 Motion for a Stay of the ASLB's Order Authorizing the Issuance of a Full Power 0perating License-for the Limerick Generating Station, and moves the' Appeal Board for an Order Staying t'he Authorization Ifor a Full Power OperatingL ' icense for the above f acility, and sets forth the-following in support thereof:

On or about September 3, 1984, LEA filed a timely appeal to this Boar'd from the Sceond-Partial Initial Decision (PID) of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which, inter alia, authorized the Director'of Nuclear Reactor Regulation to issue a low power operating license.

On or about October 3, 1984, LEA filed a brief in support of

'itsfappeal, setting forth in detail various errors in law, and violations of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative 352 PDR

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. Procedure Act and Commission regulations by the ASLB. LEA's arguments therein are'hereby incorporated in their entirety by reference thereto.

Based ~upon thefarguments set-~forth in~its Brief, LEA believes

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that it has..made a " strong showing" that it is likely to prevail.on the. merits of its' position.

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Irreparable 1 Injury to LEA LEA will beLirreparably. injured unless the Stay is granted.

Among the11ssues which' LEA set forth for reversal of the ASLB Second Partial Initial Decision below is the' failure of the environmental

-review 1for Limerick to even consider design alternatives to mitigate

'the risk.of severe accidents. LEA's membership is among the population exposed to' this risk, and would be among the' beneficiaries of a:

reduction of this risk.

Hidden from NEPA review and excluded'from licensina con-I sidoration are Staff analyses of a range of notential rink co-

-duction measurcs.which may be available for imolomontation at Limerick. However, the cost-effectiveness of such measures, the practicability of backfitting sucn measures into the Limerick design and the radiation exposure of workers involved in the implementation of such measures will all be adversely affected by full power _ operation o,f the facility which will further contaminate plant systems.

Thus, full power operation may forever make unavailable design u

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g lalternativos which could substantially reduce the public risk to LEA's membership. -As the ASLB stated below:

It is commonly' recognized that as con-st'uction'continucs, r the costly' corrective action to minimize environmental harm may increase,~even to the point where such ac-tion is not reasonably possible.

PhiladelphiaLElectric Co. (Liecrick Generating station) LDP .

-92.I, 16lNRC 1387 (1982). Plant operation may well cause an

" irretrievable and irreversible commitment" to a particular, and nexilessly risky, plant ' design.

The public accident risk from operation of Limerick exceeds

.that of- any : facility in. the United States with the sole exception ofDIndian Point in New York. .Sec NUREG-0974, Final Environmental Statement related to the operation of the Limerick Generating

-Station, pp. 5-116 124. Remedial risk reduction measures unavailable at Indian Point due to-its history of plant operation may-still be available for Limerick.

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_ In addition, the NEPA, APA. and regulatory violations set

'forth in LEA's Brief, unless corrected prior to plant operation, will irreparably harm LEA's. interest in lawful' decision-making for the Limerick facility.

'!! Arm to Other Parties The granting _of suspension will not harm the cognizable

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interestsfof-other. parties. . The only party whose interests mav 5 , reasonably;be.said:to be adversely affected.by such a: suspension iwouldibe theiApplicant. ' Yet.the only such interests so affected.

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lareSs61el'yneconomic in' nature concerns which,:as thisTAppeal' Board hasiexpressly noted, are~"not'within therproper~scopeLof lissuesLlitigated in NRC.proce$ dings".1/ Philadelphia Electric

~[- [Co..'(Limerick l Generating Station) ASLB-789, NRC: (November 5{1984),: slip._og. p.

5 .(rejecting such concerns inithe context ofLa. stay ofia license).

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"U E To the. extent that such solely. economic interests arc.

-deemed; cognizable, LEA submitsithat the interest in the health'

.and safety!of the public must necessarily outweigh the monetary

.and;priva'te interests of the utility. LFurther,.such:cconomic

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.impactsito tho' utility 1are. speculative at best,.'because.tho ult'imate. full-power-.and;commerical operation of Limerick cannot--

snow-bo prosumed, Tin tho.fac~c of extant ch411cngos.to the adcquacy-

,, o 1/Indeed, it would be arbitrary and capricious forlthe commission to consider: claims'of economic: harm to the= utility caused byfa~=

q licensing delay,1yet exclude claims of economi& harm to the : rate-J payers;and the public occasioned by the licensing of a nuclear z

. facility,..which:like Limorick, the need for which is dubious at.

bost. If the Appeal Board ~ intends to considor such claims of seconomic harm to the utility, LEA respectfully rooucats an oppor-

'tunity to. set forth the economic harm to'its membership and the

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'public resulting from facilityilicensing and operation.

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of'off-site emergency-planning, and other conditions.to full-power operation and whose' outcome cannot permissibly be prejudged. This

' includes the lack of available and adequate cooling water in_the Schuylkill' River'during the-current drought emergency, which makes it impossible for PECO to carry out its testing program at the present time.

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The Public Interest

'The requested' suspension would serve the public interest,

.because it :(1) protects the public interest in avoiding undue risk in nuclear power plant operation; (2) permits time to fairly and comprehensively consider risk mitigation alternatives; (3) avoids an " irreversible and irretrievable commitment" to resourcos'in the face'ofl violations of National Environmental Policy Act-safe-guards; (4) protects'the public intercst in principled and lawful decision making.

we anticipato the Applic mt's arguments that Litu pul;11c interest would be disserved by any asserted increased costs due

'to-delay in testing and commerical operation. Therefore, we reito'ato'the r Appeal Board's rejection of the cognizability of "a nuclear plant's possibic effcet on rates." Id., slip. op. p. 5.

f And, in any_ event, whether the Commission will authorize full powcr operation by such time so as to make the suspension LEA requcats a material factor in any delay of commerical operation impacting rates is utterly speculative; even more speculative is

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what actual significant impact, if any, such a delay might actually have on rates.

What is not speculative is the fact that testing above 5% of rated power and full power operation of Limerick vill make design change and backfitting more dangerous, more difficult, and more expensive, and may thus irrevocably shift a close cost-benefit ratio against risk reduction.

For all these reasons, Limerick Ecology Action, Inc. respect-fully requests this Board to Stav any authorization for operation above 5% of rated power pending adjudication of LEA's appeals on the merits. This request is filed as a supplement to LEA's Motion for a Stay of the ASLB's Order Authorizing the Issuance of a Full Power Operating License for the Limerick Generating Station, which was served on the parties to this proceeding on May 16, 1985.

Respec fully submitted, WP May 20, 1985 Phylli Zitzer, P esident Limeri k Ecology Action

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- UNITED--STATES OF AMERICA

-NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION' O BEFORE THE-ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING APPEAL BOARD

'In~ the Matter of ) C"ljfEIU gC

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PHILADELPHIA. ELECTRIC COMPANY -) Docket No's. 50-352

c. ) 50-353

'85 MM 21 A10:47 (Limerick Generating Station, )

-Units 1: and 2)- )

GFFILi C; iLw:, p.

00CMETmG & sisvic-BRANCH CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE jfn I 'heIeby certify t, hat copies of LEA's " SUPPLEMENT TO ITS MOTION FOR A STAY OF THE ASLB'S

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ORDER: AUTHORIZING THE ISSUANCE OF A FULL POWER OPERATING LICENSE FOR THE. LIMERICK GENERATING STATION" in the above captioned proceeding have been served on th'e following by deposit in the United States mail, this 20th. day of May,-198f:

Judge Helen Hoyt,. Chairwoman-

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Atomic Safety and Administrative Judge Licensing Appeal Panel w U.S. Nuclear Regulatory U.S. Nuclear Regulatory

, ' Commission Comrai s s i o n Washington, D.C. 20555 Washington', D.C. 20555

c. n Drnalcha rd F. Cole Benjamin-H. Voaler, Esq.

. Administrative Judge Donald Hassell, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Office of the Executive Commission Legal Director Washington,xD.C. 20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission

, Dr. Jerry Harbour i Washington, D.C. 20555 Administrative Judge ,

.,U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Troy B. Conner. Eso.

Commission Conner and Wetterhahn Washington, D.C. 20555 .

1747 Pennsylvania Ave. NW Docketing and Service Section Office of the Secretary '

Philadelphia Electric Company U. S . N u c l e a r Re g u l a to'i'y Attn: Edward G. Bauer, Jr.

Commission '

VP and General Counsel Washington,.D.C. 20555 .- 2301 Market Street Philadelphia, Pa. 19101 Atomic Safety and

' Licensing Board Panel Spence.W. Perry, Esq.

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Associa,te General Counsel

.- Commission FEMA Room 840 Washington, D.C. 20555 500 C Street, SW

- , Washington, D.C. 20472 24 g

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6 Zori Ferkin, Esq. Angus Love, Esq.

Governor's Energy Council Montg. Co. Legal Aid P.O. Box 8010 101 East Main Street 1625 Front. Street Norristown, Pa. 19401 Harrisburg, Pa. 17105 Robert Anthony /F0E Thomas Gerusky, Director P.O. Box 186 Cureau of Radiation Protection 103 Vernon Lane

", DER, 5th Floor, Fulton-Bldg. Moylan, Pa. 19065 Third.and Locust Streets Harrisburg, Pa. 17120 Charles Elliott, Esq.

- 325 N. 10th Street J.'Gutierrez, Esq. Easton, Pa. 18042 U.S. NRC Region 1 631 Park Ave. Robert Suga rman , Esq.

. King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 Sugarman & Denworth 101 N. Broad Street Ralph Hippert 16th. Floor John Patten Philadelphia- Pa. 19107 Pa. Emergency Management Agency B-151, Transportation'8e Frank Romano Safety Building 61 Forest Ave.

Harrisburg, Pa. 17120 Ambler, Pa. 19002 Timothy Campbell, Director Che' ster County, Dept..of Emergency Services

14 East Biddle Street West Chester, Pa. 19380

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Cf Phyllis Zi tze r ,- Pre siden t May 20,~1985 Limerick Ecology Action, Inc.

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