ML20195H388

Petition to Intervene of Local 29,Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers in Matter of Firstenergy Nuclear Operating Co,Pennsylvania Power Co & Duquense Light Co.With Certificate of Svc

ML20195H388
Person / Time
Site:	Beaver Valley
Issue date:	06/03/1999
From:	Rubin S AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS
To:	NRC COMMISSION (OCM)
Shared Package
ML20195H377	List: ML20195H373 ML20195H388
References
LT, NUDOCS 9906170028
Download: ML20195H388 (5)

Text

. ,,

DOCKETED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA USu y, BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 9 M -7 P 3 33

. In the Matter of '  : O FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company,  : - Docket Nos. ..

Pennsylvania Power Company, and  : 50-334 & 50-412' Duquesne Light Company  :

(Beave Valley Power Station, Iinits 1 & 2)  :

. PETITION TO INTERVENE OF LOCAL 29, INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF ELECTRICAL WORKERS Pursuant to Part 2, Subpart M of the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (" Commission"),10 CFR QQ 2.uu0, et seq., Local 29, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (" Local 29"), files this Petition to Intervene in this proceeding. In support of this Petition, Local 29 states as follows:

l

1. The petitioner is:  ;

1 Timothy Moran, Business Manager I c Local 29,IBEW 986 Greentree Road i Pittsburgh,PA 15220 i Telephone:(412) 922-6969 '

Fax: (412) 922-5649 I

l 2. Local 29 will be represented in this case by its attorney:

l

[ Scott J. Rubin - '

. 3 Lost Creek Drive Selinsgrove,PA 17870 j Telephone:(570) 743-2233 ,

Fax:(570) 743-8145 .

c-mail: sjrubin@ptd. net I

9906170028 990603  ? '

.PDR ADOCK 05000334 +

i 0 PDR ,

[

c 3. ~ Local 29 is the authorized bargaining representative for the unionized employees L

l of Duquesne Light Company ("DLC"), including several hundred of the employees at the Beaver Valley Power Station, units 1 and 2 ("BVPS").

L

. 4. ' This proceeding concerns the proposed transfer of the ownership and operation of

- BVPS from DLC to subsidiaries of FirstEnergy Corporation ("FirstEnergy).

Specifically, the applicants propose to transfer DLC's ownership interest in BVPS to FirstEnergy subsidiary Pennsylvania Power Company ("Penn Power") and the operations of BVPS to FirstEnergy subsidiary FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Corporation

("FENOC").'

5. As of the date of this Petition to Intervene, FENOC has not indicated how it will determine stafflevels for BVPS, how many current employees of DLC at BVPS will continue to be employed at the station under FENOC, or whether the number of

- employees and the experience levels of those employees will be sufficient to ensure the safe operation of BVPS.

. 6. In particular, the Application that was filed in this proceeding fails to state with any specificity whether and how the operations of BVPS will change under new -

ownership and what impact that will have on the safe operations of BVPS. For example, the application states:

a) There "will be no significant change in the day-to-day operations of BVPSl&2"(page 1, emphasis added)-

b) "substantially all of DLC's nuclear employees at the site will become FENOC employees as soon as administratively feasible. Thus, the plant

' staff will be essentially unchanged " (page 10 emphasis added) 2

c) "the nuclear organization of DLC will be substantially preserved with the o#f immediate change being that the position of senior nuclear executive

... will be held by a cunent FENOC executive." (page 11, emphasis added) 1 d) "This organizational approach allows transfer of DLC personnel to l

FENOC with minimal organizational changes and no anticipated disruption to the existing, dedicated site organization." (page 12, cmphasis added) e) "FENOC anticipates that it will be able to assume all of the current functions of the existing QA organization by assigning qualified FENOC personnel or contractor personnel, i.e., DLC personnel (under contract) or

]

l other qualified contractors, to each of the positions named in the current Quality Assurance Plan (or equivalent positions)." (pages 23-24, l i

emphasis added)

7. It appears from these statements, and numerous others in the application, that FENOC does not currently have a definite plan for ensuring that key functions at BVPS are staffed with experienced, qualified personnel. Rather, the statements that appear in the application are conclusory statements, filled with qualifiers (" anticipates,"

"substantially,""significant"). Such statements, without any backup or supporting information, fall far short of providing assurances - to either the Commission, the public, or the current employees at BVPS - that the plant will be operated safely and staffed with experienced, qualified personnel.

3

~

[

8. .. The agreement between DLC and FirstEnergy, the Nuclear Generation

~ Conveyance Agreement attached to the application as Attachment C, only requires that FENOC make staffing decisions at BVPS at least 120 days prior to closing. ' Attachment j

)

C, section 6.11.' The agreement also indicates an understanding by FENOC and DLC I that employee morale, and thus the safety of plant operations, might be adversely affected in the period between the signing of the agreement and closing. Attachment C, section -  !

6.20. >

I

9. ' Local 29 seeks to intervene in this proceeding to ensure that the Commission fully j considers the impact on the safety ofplant operations of the stafrmg decisions that are i

made by FENOC. Further, Local 29 urges the Commission to ensure that FENOC's j stafting decisions are made before the Commission makes any decision conceming the proposed license transfer. The Commission's evaluation of the safety ofplant operations i should be made based ca the actual staffing commitments of FENOC and the actual experience of those who will be operating the station.

.. l 10.' O Local 29 also seeks to intervene in this proceeding to ensure that the interests of  !

its members (including hundreds of employees at BVPS as well as numerous other people  !

who live and work in close proximity to BVPS) are fully represented in this proceeding.

J Those interests include the ability to live and work in or near a nuclear generating station that is operated safely by experien;ed, qualified personnel.

i i

i

)

' The Nuclear Generation Conveyance Agreement refers to Locals 140,142,144,147,148, and 149. l Thou local unions have since amalgamated into a single local union, which is Local 29. )

'4 ,

_____:-_ . q .: _

I ; .-. ,

l

WHEREFORE, Local 29, IBEW, respectfully petitions to intervene in this proceeding.

Respectfully submitted, 4

Scott J. Ru in, Esq.

, 3 Lost Creek Drive

- Selinsgrove, PA 17870 (570) 743-2233 Fax:(570) 743-8145 z sjrubin@ptd. net Counsel for:

Local 29, IBEW Dated: June 3,1999 ,

I I

1 5

I c

4'

Y 5*o u

l . DOCKEiED UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WGC BEFORE THE NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION -

g g g .y In the Matter of  : OF'+

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, Pennsylvania Power Company, and Docket Nos.

50-334 & 50-412 fj- y l'

i Duquesne Light Company  :

(Beaver Valley Power Station, Units 1 & 2)  :

' CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE In accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR @ 2.1313, I hereby certify that I have this day served a copy of the Petition to Intervene of Local 29, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, by first class mail on the following:

Secretary General Counsel 13.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, DC 20555-0001 Washington, DC 20555-0001 Mary E. O'Reilly - Roy P. Lessy FirstEnergy Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, LLP 76 South Main Street 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW, Suite 400 Akron,OH 44308 Washington,DC 20036 Larry R. Crayne John E. Matthews Assistant General Counsel Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

. Duquesne Light Company ' 1800 M Street, NW 411 Seventh Avenue Washington, DC 20036-5869 Pittsburgh,PA 15219 l j

i

~

/ Scott J.'R$b)n, Esq.

Counsel for:

Local 29,IBEW Dated:~ June 3,1999  !

I l

1 j

r 2