ML20136C183
| ML20136C183 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Maine Yankee |
| Issue date: | 01/08/1997 |
| From: | Blanch P AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED |
| To: | Mulley G, Stryker W, Zwolinski J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned), NRC OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG) |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20136C110 | List:
|
| References | |
| NUDOCS 9703110303 | |
| Download: ML20136C183 (10) | |
Text
.
From PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>
l To WND2. WNP3 ( j az), TWD1. TWP4 (gam, wj s), WND1. WNP2 (hjm), W...
Dates-1/8/97 4:18am
Subject:
Maine Yankee Takeover
> Paul:
>The headline should have read:
i
>=B3AFTER MORE THAN 130 YEARS, THE SOUTH IS ABOUT TO EVEN THE SCORE!=B2
>Regards,
>XXXXXXXXXXXXXX Date: January 7, 1996 For Release: Immediately
Contact:
Central Maine Power:
Mark Ishkanian 207-623-3521 l
Maine Yankee:
Maureen Brown 207-798-4196 Entergy:
Phil Miracle 601-368-5650 l
Kelle Barfield 601-368-5655 Maine Yankee Board selects Entergy to run Plant BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Board of Directors of Maine Yankee and =
Entergy Corporation of New Orleans announced today the signing of a = memorandum of understanding for Entergy to provide management
= services to run Maine =B9s only nuclear power plant. Entergy is a = utility holding company and is widely viewed as one of the leading = nuclear operators in the United States.
The memorandum of understanding is the first step toward a contract = to provide management services to run' Maine Yankee.
Additional steps = still need to be taken before Entergy could actually take over = management of the power plant. These steps j
include plant evaluation = and negotiating final terms and conditions. Signing of the phase one = contract is expected shortly.
B3Entergy has the experience and expertise to return Maine Yankee to = the nation =B9s top tier of nuclear power plants in terms of = regulatory and operations performance,=B2 said Maine Yankee Chairman
David T.
Flanagan.
,4 p 6'O 9h03110303y{0go6 PDR ORG PDR i
1 l
l Don Hintz, president and CEO of Entergy Operations, Inc, said,
B3The = performance of our nuclear plants =8B and our ability to bring about = dramatic improvement =8B demonstrate that Entergy is uniquely = qualified to enter into a partnership with Maine Yankee Atomic Power
l Company to improve performance at the plant.=B2 Upon execution of the management services contract, expected within a = month =B9s time, Entergy will assign a senior executive to serve as =
Maine Yankee =B9s: Chief Nuclear Officer. Selection of this l
executive = is subject to approval by the Maine Yankee Board of Directors and = will report directly to the Board. Once a full management review, now = underway, has been completed, additional Entergy personnel are = expected to assume key positions at Maine Yankee.
Until the Maine Yankee /Entergy management services contract is fully = executed and their team is in place, Charles D. Frizzle will continue = to serve as president and CEO of Maine Yankee.
Entergy operates five nuclear units at four locations for its =
l affiliated companies. All the plants have shown significant =
improvement since coming under Entergy=B9s management, with dramatic = turnarounds at Arkansas Nuclear One in Russellville, Arkansas, and = the River Bend Station in St. Francisville, Louisiana. Each of the = plants, except River Bend, the most recent addition, ranked in or = near the top quartile nationally from 1993 to 1995 based on averages = for safety and regulatory effectiveness, plant performance and = production costs.
=
Maine Yankee picks Louisiana company
=
N-management firm aims at restoring performance Web links l
At left: Jerry W.
=
Yelverton, executive vice president of Entergy Corp., describes the = deal allowing his company to run Maine
(
Yankee Tuesday.
Staff photo by Jack =
Milton
=
l By Susan Rayfield
=
Staff Writer 1
A9 Copyright 1996 Guy Gannett
Communications BRUNSWICK - Maine Yankee has chosen a Louisiana utility to run
l the = troubled Wiscasset nuclear power plant, the first time a
l U.S. = nuclear plant has been managed by an outside company.
Entergy Corp. of New Orleans operates five nuclear. plants in =
Arkansas,. Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy will bring l
.its = own managers to Maine Yankee within a month - including a j
j senior = executive to serve as Maine Yankee's chief nuclear
' officer, with = day-to-day responsibility for running the plant.
l l
Entergy knows how to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness,-=
morale and safety, said Maine Yankee Chairman David T.
i Flanagan, = who also heads Central Maine Power Co., Maine Yankee's largest = shareholder. That is what Maine Yankee needs.
The change will take place after the utilities sign a contract,
= which is expected to take place within a month. Entergy I
officials
= said they are seeking a long-term agreement that would pay Entergy = based on its ability to meet standards for j
t l
' production, cos; and = safety.
[
Flanagan would not comment on the cost of the pending deal or the l
= size of-the Entergy team that will run Maine Yankee.
.The head of Entergy's nuclear operations said Tuesday that the =
agreement breaks new ground and may signal the beginning of a trend = within the industry. No other nuclear plant has turned to l
an outside = operator.to solve its problems.
It.is the popular view of many in'the nuclear industry that =
ultimately, as a' result of economic pressure brought on by =
deregulation, there will only be a few companies operating virtually.= all the nuclear plants in'the country, said Jerry l
W.
Yelverton, = chief l executive of Entergy's nuclear group.
But at least-one critic of Maine Yankee was unimpressed.
(
Out-of-state management may be new, but Maine Yankee is still a
= decrepit old plant, said Bill Linnell of the group Maine Safe l
Energy.
l The announcement came three weeks after Maine Yankee's chief =
I executive, Charles Frizzle, was forced out by the board of directors.
Maine Yankee has undergone a series of expensive repairs over the
= past two years.
It was shut down on Dec. 6 to correct problems with its electric
= cable system. Last week, the plant was taken from so-called
hot = shutdown status to cold shutdown to remove the head of the =
l 470-ton reactor vessel and replace some leaking fuel rods.
(
A' federal safety team'last year found the plant adequate to =
operate but cited worker pressure to save money and the lack of a
= questioning attitude as root causes of problems. Maine Yankee has = pledged to spend $27 million and hire 50'more employees to j
'fix the = problems.
l The new chief nuclear officer will report to. Maine Yankee's board l
and = will be responsible for day-to-day operations and long-term l
strategy,~= said Flanagan.
L Yelverton said Entergy has a strong record in turning around nuclear = power plants with a history of safety problems. He said one such = plant was River Bend, in St. Francisville, La., which in three years = went from 59.7 percent capacity to 97 percent.
1 James Minton, a reporter who covers the plant for Baton Rouge's =
largest daily newspaper, the Advocate,.said Entergy corrected the
= problems ~by spending heavily to upgrade the plant.
J l
It then. changed the culture of-management and employees so that
= instead of working around problems, they fixed them, he said.
Nuclear industry analysts had mixed reactions to.Entergy's takeover = of operations at MaineLYankee.
l l
I view this as'a positive step for Maine Yankee, said David =
Lochbaum, senior nuclear safety engineer with the Union of
~i l
-Concerned =
(
Scientists in. Washington, D.C.
Lochbaum worked as a consultant j
for =
Entergy for four years and described it Tuesday as a very l
well-run==and well-managed utility.
Their record'over the last decade has been well above average, he = said.
.Even so, Entergy in the last year received three $50,000 fines at
,two'= of its plants - Waterford 3 in Taft, La., and Arkansas Nuclear 1 in =
Russellville, Ark. - because of problems with cooling systems, design = flaws and safety valves.
But that is the exception rather than the rule, Lochbaum said.
t Lochbaum said Entergy last year tried to negotiate a similar deal
= with the New York Power Authority to run two nuclear plants there, = but the deal fell through when a financial agreement could not be = reached.
i A Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman had no comment on the j
= announcement.
l
We're going to wait and see if there are any changes in the =
operations of~ Maine Yankee, she said.
.That position was echoed by Ray Shadis, another local critic of Maine =
Yankee.
We'll.see,;Shadis said.
We have a company that.said there's
= nothing wrong, and now they've wound up supplanting virtually
.their = entire management; team.
This is a plant that's going ~to be expensive to run because it's = been'so poorly maintained, he said. They're not going J
to = magically get blood from a turnip.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$s$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$=-
N-management firm = aims at restoring performance By Tux Turkel Staff Writer 1
A9 Copyright 1996 Guy Gannett
Communications In proposing to hire Entergy Operations Inc., Maine Yankee is getting = help from a company with a reputation for reviving troubled nuclear = power plants, including one in Arkansas with a design similar to the =
Wiscasset reactor.
Entergy's challenge in Maine will be to maximize power production at = the lowest possible cost, while adhering to strict safety regulations.
We try to excel in all three of those areas, said Don Hintz,
= president of Entergy Operations.
Entergy is seeking a long-term operating agreement with Maine Yankee = that will pay Enterty based on its ability to meet standards for = production, cost and safety. The company hopes to have a firm = contract within a month.
The proposed agreement also represents a first for New Orleans-based =
Entergy, which recently began marketing its services to utilities
= nationwide. It would be the first time the company signed a long-term = agreement with a nuclear plant in which it has no ownership interest.
Entergy Operations is a subsidiary of Entergy Corp., a holding =
company that owns five operating utilities and operates five
)
nuclear = plants. The utilities generate and distribute i
electricity to 2.4 = million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee and =
Texas. Another subsidiary operates power plants overseas.
i l
Entergy. Corp. is a publicly' traded company whose stock is listed on = the New York Stock Exchange. Its stock closed Tuesday at
$28, up 12.5 = cents.
p Entergy cut costs - and its work force - by nearly 20 percent over = the past three years to prepare for electric deregulation and = industry competition. Part of this' preparation led the company to = begin marketing its expertise in nuclear power.
operation. That is how =
Maine Yankee became aware of Entergy as a candidate to help it =
restore its operating performance.
i Entergy is known as an aggressive management firm that has i
delivered = good results.-
They've developed their reputation running their plants down =
south, said Alfred Mazzorana, an analyst with Furman Selz in New =
York. They're quite-capable.
l l
Entergy, for example, turned around the Arkansas One nuclear j
plant in =
Russellville, Ark., in the early 1990s. Arkansas One is a twin-unit = plant with reactors roughly the same size as Maine Yankee and built = by the same firm, Combustion Engineering.
i One of the units in Arkansas has had steam generator problems similar = to those that crippled Maine Yankee. Hintz said while l
the steam = generators will soon be replaced, repairs and other measures have = allowed the plant to run in recent years'with
)
very little down' time.
)
'The company has had similar successes at the Grand Gulf One nuclear = plant in Mississippi, and River Bend One in Louisiana.
It owns = majority shares at both plants.
J
Our units operate'at extremely high performance levels, Hintz
= said.
One example of how Entergy boosts efficiency is the way it handles = refueling outages, a costly chore that must be done every 18 months = or so.
l It took an average of 52 days last year to refuel a reactor in the =
United States. Entergy wants to reduce the-time off line to 30 days. =
To do that,.the company shifts its own groups of workers to plants in = need of refueling, rather than hiring outside contractors.
}
Nuclear power, critics have complained that shorter refueling i
outages = result in less testing and safety-related inspections.
l But in an = interview last year with the Bloomberg news service, r
l L
J
l-l l
l an Entergy = spokesman rebutted that view.
The quality of work is higher, said Terry Young, and there l
is a = built-in incentive for our.own employees to get work done
_quickly and = go home.'Short refueling outages do not mean we're cutting corners.
Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant i
135 Hyde Rd.
l West Hartford'CT'06117 Tel: 860-236-0326 l
Fax: 860-232-9350 l
l l
I l
l l
l 1
1 i
From PAUL ~ BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>
j.
To AL.CIZEK <CIZEKAAegwsntp.nu.com>
Dates
-1/8/97'4:31am Subjects FP&L Florida Power Corporation Announces Replacements In Top Nuclear Positions Source: PR Newswire ST. PETERSBURG,.Fla., Jan. 7 /PRNewswire/ via' Individual Inc.
-- Two individuals have been selected for key positions'at Florida Power Corporation's crystal River 3 nuclear power plant.
The announcement was made today by President Joe Richardson.
I Roy A. Anderson, currently a senior vice president with Carolina' Power
& Light Company, will join Florida Power as a senior vice pres ~ident later this month and also will become chief nuclear officer effective March 3.
He will replace Pat.
Beard, who will then report to the president as senior vice president handling special nuclear projects until he retires April 1.
John P.
Cowan: currently a vice president with Carolina Power &
- Light, will serve'as site vice president at Crystal River 3. He will succeed Gary Boldt, who has announced his resignation effective January 31.
I Anderson hasz26 years of experience inithe electric utility business including both nuclear andinon-nuclear. Prior.to working at Carolina Power & Light, he served as plant manager during the dramatic improvement to Boston Edison Company's Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in the late 1980s. In 1993, he accepted the; challenge to improve Carolina Power &'
Light's Brunswick, Nuclear Plant, whereLhe.was faced with a plant in regulatory. shut down,~1ow Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP) scores, and close Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) scrutiny. In the ensuing two years, the Brunswick Nuclear Plant was transformed into a top performing nuclear generating station.
1 Anderson holds a bachelor of science degree in marine and nuclear engineering.from the State University of New York and a master of business administration degree in business operations research from the Rensselear Polytechnic Institute.
Cowan has recently been serving on behalf of Carolina Power &
Light at the Northeast Utilities Millstone Plants as restart L
officer because of his expertise in nuclear plant improvement.
l While at the Brunswick Nuclear Plant, Cowan moved up through l
several positions including director of site operations when he l
was responsible for improvements in the areas of SALP scores and Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) performance. Prior j
to working at Carolina Power & Light, Cowan served with INPO.
l.
I l
I I
Cowan received a bachelor's degree in nuclear engineering from
. the University of Wisconsin, a master's degree in business management from the Rensselaar Polytechnic Institute and a'juris doctorate degree from Georgia State University.
d "I feel very fortunate to have Roy and John joining the
~
Crystal River 3 management team," said Richardson. "They are well respected for their expertise and leadership and I am confident that they can lead the plant to achieving top performance."
Crystal River 3 is an 860-megawatt nuclear power plant located at Florida Power's Crystal River Energy Complex: near the Gulf of Mexico in Citrus County. The plant has been in operation since 1977 and is Florida Power's only nuclear unit.
The plant was taken off line last September 2 to repair a l
cracked lubricating-oil pipe leading to the main turbine
~
generator. While the repairs were made, Florida Power officials l
initiated an extended maintenance outage to analyze and resolve technical issues associated with plant equipment operating
)
i margins. Regular technical review meetings, involving Florida i
Power and the NRC, are being conducted to. provide an open forum for discussion of issues and their resolutions.
Close communication with the NRC will ensure a timely return of the j
plant to service once the issues are resolved.
l Florida Power Corporation is the principal subsidiary of St.
j j-Petersburg-based Florida Progress Corporation (NYSE: FPC) and
)
l serves 1.3.million customers in central and northern Florida.
1 SOURCE Florida Power Corporation i
i Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.
West Hartford CT 06117 Tel: 860-236-0326 Fax: 860-232-9350 I
l l
- Front PAUL. BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>
l To:
Jonathan M Block 1<jonb9sover. net >-
l l
Dates 1/8/97 9:04am f
Subjects Re: FP&L JON:
I don't know if they are changing licensees. I expect not. If they are just changing management, al1~it takes is a letter to the NRC stating that certain positions are changed. I see a j
l major safety conflict here in that the:only objective is to make i
l money. But we really don't have to worry as the'NRC will assure-they operate the plant safely and in accordance with all regulations. I'm giving 3 to 1 odds the takeover will not occur.
Please use BCC instead of CC on your distribution. It is nice to 1
l keep everyone in the dark as far as distribution plus some of my contacts should not be~ identified.
L j
Paul M.
Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.
West Hartford CT 06117~
L Tel: 860-236-0326 l
Fax: 860-232-9350 l
l i
l l-i l
er-m
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