ML20136E912
Text
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.From PAUL BLANCH _<PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>
To:
WND2. WNP3 (j az), TWD1. TWP4 (gan), ARD1. ARP1(drg), WND1....
Dates
-1/20/97 7:24pm subject:
LMaine-Yankee h
A veryLoptomistic outlook for restart. There is no way this plant
will see any neutrons in-1997'and possibly'1998 with all.its
problems.fA typical " watch list" plant is down for an average of at = least 18 months'and'many. longer. It typically calls for.
additional = staffing of hundreds if not thousands of additional contractors. This = is much more expensive tnan replacement of steam generators.
Maine Yankee added to list of worst plants l
l Related links l
l By Peter Pochna and Tux Turkel 1
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j Staff Writer
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A9 Copyright 1997. Guy Gannett Communications Safety and maintenance problems that have plagued the Maine Yankee = nuclear power plant for two years prompted federal regulators on'
Wednesday to place the plant on a list of.the worst-run plants in the country The listing on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's watch list
= means that the NRC'will increase the number of inspectors overseeing = operations at Maine Yankee, which has been shut down for repairs since December.
The increased scrutiny could force the plant to remain closed beyond = its proposed mid-March start-up date, adding to the already. heavy.= costs its owners must bear to return the plant to good working order.
Being on the' watch list won't make it easier to get the plant up.= sooner rather than.later, said Mark Ishkanian,-a spokesman for =
Central Maine Power, which owns 38 percent of the Wiscasset plant.
Since Maine Yankee was shut'down 12 weeks ago, CMP has been spending =
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$1 million a week to buy replacement power.
Fourteen of the nation's 109 nuclear reactors were on the watch list, = which the NRC updates every six months. The NRC initiated Jthe list in =
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1986.to help track plants that are showing declining performance.
l Maine Yankee, which began = operations in 1972, has never before been listed.
l Plants remain on the list an average of two and a: half years. To get1= off the list, plants most show an extended period of improved = performance.
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The NRC cited numerous significant weaknesses at the plant, =
including problems with equipment monitoring, testing, and =
engineering.
L The NRC also expressed' concern about the the way Maine Yankee i
workers = approach their jobs.
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The lack of questioning attitudes was prevalent at the' station,
= which resulted in the ineffective handling of a number of licensing = and safety issues, the NRC's Hugh 1
Thompson wrote in a letter to David Flanagan,.the president of =
l Central Maine Power and chairman of Maine Yankee's board of directors.
Maine Yankee officials said the increased-scrutiny will help improve.= the plant's performance.
We welcome the opportunity to work more closely with the NRC and, = through that process, build public confidence in Maine Yankee, said =
Graham Leitch, vice president'of operations at the plant.
i But plant opponents said the NRC's-action confirms what they have
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= been saying all along - that the plant isn't safe.
This really turns up the heat, and it's long overdue, said j
Bill =
I Linnell,.a spokesman for a coalition of anti-nuclear groups gathering = signatures on a referendum to close Maine Yankee.
It's going to be the. kiss of death because they = are already in trouble and they just won't be able to compete with = other forms of energy _which are less expensive.
Gov. Angus King told WCSH-TV that the listing helps allay his =
concerns that the NRC hasn't properly monitored plant activities.
They are putting it under a microscope, King said. That's where = it ought to be.
Problems at the plant began in 1994, when plant operators
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discovered = leaks in the plant's steam generators. The steam
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' generator repair = kept the plant shut down for most of 1995 and part of 1996.
-When the plant resumed power production, the NRC-forbade it to =
operate beyond 90 percent capacity because of concerns it couldn't = run safely at full power.
' Further problems with various operating systems caused more shutdowns = during 1996 and prompted the NRC to do an extensive 1
analysis of the = plant last summer.
Many.of the problems the NRC cited as reasons to place the' plant on = the watch list were found during that analysis.
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Since December, Maine Yankee has embarked on a $30 million =
4 improvement program that will add 50 workers to the plant's staff and = upgrade ventilation and computer systems, among other 2
things.
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The plant's owners'have also hired Entergy Corp. of Louisiana to take-= over management of the facility. Entergy is expected to begin its = efforts to inprove the plant in mid-February.
Jerry Yelverton, Entergy's executive vice president and chief =
operating officer, said he's not surprised Maine Yankee was l
placed on = the watch list.
I don't know.if it makes our jobs any. harder, Yelverton said.
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Even if not on the watch' list, the plant would have been under i
a = lot of~ scrutiny and we would have had"to do the same things j
to improve.its performance.
The listing adds to the litany of problems the plant has brought to = its owners over the past couple of years.
2 CMP filed a statement earlier this month with federal securities
= regulators, warning stockholders that ongoing problems at Maine Yankee would hurt its financial performance in 1997.
The possibility that the plant will stay closed beyond mid-March 7
= could further erode CMP's earnings.
Ishkanian said CMP would file another statement this week to i
notify = stockholders of the NRC's action. But because Maine Yankee's troubles = have already been accounted for by investors, he said, it's hard to gauge further = reaction.
It's not welcome news, Ishkanian said. How much the financial = community has already anticipated this action remains j
to be seen.
CMP stock has lost more than a quarter of its value over the past
= year, but has been holding at around $12 a share in recent 9
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weeks. It = closed on Wednesday at $11.125 Financial' analysts had mixed views of how the watch list could
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affect =:
CMP.
Karen Byrd, an analyst at Morgan Stanley, said that because plants on = the list have a history of trouble, their conditions don't come'as a = surprise to utility investors.
From the market's point of view, she said, this has been =
known.
Byrd said a more-important factor was the outlook for'how long each = plant would remain shut down. The added NRC scrutiny can make it = harder for a plant to return to service, she said,-but the selection of Entergy Corp. to take over = management at Maine Yankee should be seen by the financial markets as = a positive i
step.
We have high respect for Entergy, she said.
Ronald Tanner, an analyst with Legg Mason, said he didn't think the = watch list would delay Maine Yankee's restart, because-the NRC has = been scrutinizing the plant for several months. CMP's low stock price reflects the assumption = that Maine Yankee will l
be down for part of 1997, he said.
Tanner sees the plant's troubles as temporary. Beyond the watch list, = he expects'Entergy to correct problems that would keep the plant from = running well in 1998.
Before Entergy starts the plant up, he said, they'll want to = make sure it's clean.
Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant 135 Hyde Rd.
West Hartford CT 06117 L
Tel: 860-236-0326 Fax: 860-232-9350 l
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