ML20132B415

Forwards Application for Waiver of Withdrawal Fees Under 10CFR170.12(b).NRC Delays in Issuance of CPs Deprived Util of Opportunity to Effect Withdrawal Before 1981 Operative Date of Regulation Charging Withdrawal Fees

ML20132B415
Person / Time
Site:	Black Fox
Issue date:	06/12/1985
From:	Fate M PUBLIC SERVICE CO. OF OKLAHOMA
To:	Palladino N NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20132B418	List: ML20132B415 ML20132B434
References
NUDOCS 8509260185
Download: ML20132B415 (3)

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PUBUC SERVICE COMPANY OF OKLAHOMA A CENTRAL AND SOUTH WEST COMPANY P.O. BOX 201/ TULSA, OKLAHOMA 74102 / (9181599-2000 l

Mrtin E. Fate, Jr. June 12, 1985 Prescent The Honorable Nunzio J. Palladino, Chairman U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Chairman Palladino:

Docket Nos. 50-556 and 50-557 Bill Number CO203 (Black Fox Station Withdrawn Application for Construction Permits)

I am writing for the co-owners of the canceled Black Fox Station nuclear project. The Commission seeks to charge us a $1,009,275 fee for withdrawal of our Construction Permit application. We originally advised the Commission of this withdrawal by my letter dated February 16, 1982, to your Harold R. Denton, Director of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

As expressed in that letter, attached, our withdrawal was the culmination of intense frustration and disappointment to us and our customers. The administrative record on our application closed in February of 1979. The Construction Permits were in final form and all was ready for the Commission's final licensing decision. But instead, three years of regulatory and licensing delay by the Commission followed. These delays constituted a de facto suspension of licensing activities, a situation that denied us the opportunity to make a knowledgeable cancellation decision. The actions and statements by the NRC staff continued to lead us to believe our Construction Permits would be issued within a reasonable time period.

In the end, after three years of responding to changing Commission staff directions, we had little choice but to abandon our project and withdraw our application for Construction Permits. The length of the delay had simply made Black Fox Station no longer economically feasible.

Our continuing frustration comes from the knowledge that for those three years we did literally everything the Commission asked and " suggested" (and much more), in order to facilitate issuance of our Construction Permits which had been ready for the Commission's final decision since February 1979. No matter how well-intentioned, the long stall in licensing and 8509260185 PDR AM g00 56 PDR A/4ef b g g p jge g A [ ,

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• The Honorable Nunzio J. Palladino, Chairman June 12, 1985 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Page 2 ultimately the loss of our ability to prudently build the project was occasioned solely by the Commission. The Commission's actions deprived us of even the opportunity to effect withdrawal before the late-1981 operative date ~of a new regulation which charged withdrawal fees for the first time.

We are now told that this new regulation in 10 C.F.R. Part 170 compels the million-dollar withdrawal fee sought from us. But to apply the rote and rule of this regulation retroactively against us would be manifestly unfair. Not only did regulatory delay penalize our customers by loss of a costly project, but regulatory rule now seeks further retribution from our customers via a withdrawal fee.

This is an affront to them, to the Commission's laudable efforts at regulatory reform, to this Administration's posture on regulation, and to me personally. We have suffered enough with the loss and write-off of over $400 million without the additional burden the Commission seeks to place upon us.

The enclosed fee-waiver application and supporting brief show more particularly why exacting a withdrawal fee from us would be grossly unfair, why a withdrawal fee against us would violate public policy, and why the unique facts surrounding our project call for full waiver of withdrawal fees. For-these reasons, the co-owners of the canceled Black Fox Station nuclear project respectfully urge the Commission to grant our fee-waiver application.

Dialog in this matter has been established between our respective staffs.

With your attention, I trust we will receive a speedy rendering of final action by the Commission.

Very truly yours,

g. l MEF:1h

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' The Honorable Nunzio J. P'alladino, Chairman June 12, 1985 4 U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Page 3 i

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- cc w/ enclosures:

William O. Miller, Chief-License Fee Management Branch U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-Gerald F. Diddle, General Manager Associated Electric Cooperative, Inc. ,

Thomas W. Stevenson, General Manager Western Farmers Electric Cooperative Oklahoma Congressional Delegation-Hon. David L. Boren Hon. Don Nickles Hon. James R. Jones Hon. Mike Synar i Hon. Wes W. Watkins Hon. Dave McCurdy Hon. Mickey Edwards Hon. Glenn:English b

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