ML19210E858

Supplementary Brief for Contention 9 Re Solar Energy.Details Geographical & Meteorological Basis to Establish Credibility & Gain Admissibility for Early Site Review.Certificate of Svc Encl

ML19210E858
Person / Time
Site:	05000599, 05000600
Issue date:	11/14/1979
From:	Schwab J IOWA PUBLIC INTEREST RESEARCH GROUP
To:
References
NUDOCS 7912130098
Download: ML19210E858 (3)

Text

\;w_~~ 'UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

-NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION j\In the Matter of

)Comonwealth Edison Company

).'Interstate Power Company

)Docket Nos. S-599

' '- -> _J s Iowa-Illinois Gas and Electric

)S-600 Company)Carroll County Site November 14, 1979 SUPPLEMENTARY BRIEF 0F IOWA PIRG CONCERNING CONTENTION NO. 9 It is impossible before November 23, 1979, for. Iowa PIRG to gather data to prove its contention in any conclusive fashion.

Iowa PIRG assumes, however, that at this point, some detailing of the geograph4al and meteorological basis for its contention will suffice to establish its credibility and gain its admissibility for the early site review.

Feasibility studies of solar energy in this part of the nation have tended to indicate a special effectiveness of these types of heating systems in the winter. The flat prairie states lying east of the Rocky Mountains are areas of relatively high winds during wi nter. They are also areas where the coldest winter days are generally cloudless, allowing the greatest amount of insolation, and thus offsetting the greater strain on solar heating systems under such conditions. By contrast, cloudy days in winter in the area are very frequently warmer, largely because of the atmospheric insulating effect of the cloud layer, which inhibits dissipation of the heat trapped beneath the cloud layer.

Indications are that, insofar as this relationship of solar heating effectiveness to winter weather patterns would be affected by the visible natural draft cooling tower plumes frcm the Carroll County Station, the detrimental effect would exceed that described in Table 5.1-1, CCS-SS-ER. Such plume effects are more likely to be induced in cold weather, and so far as Iowa PIRG can determine now, more likely than average yearly figures would indicate, to impair the solar effectiveness pattern described above. Due to the lack of an adequate operating model in Iowa or Illinois currently, Iowa PIRG is still researching patterns at other reactors elsewhere, which may provide a better benchmark.

Iowa PIRG expects that evidence, as it develops, to be part of the process of discovery and evidentiary hearings at a later time.

1543 240 79 m so D 9 Er G

',-2-It is clear that most of the surrounding area of Carroll County consists of agricultural land. Two public schools are also nearby.

In evaluating the.affected solar potential, it will be important to bear in mind the time frame for operation of Carroll County Station, a period roughly from 1990 - 2020, unless further delays in construction or the need for its power materialize.

President Carter has set a goal of 20% of our energy being derived from the sun by the end of the century. Many knowledgeable solar advocates believe we may achieve 33%.

In any case, it is clear that the agricultural sector of our economy, due both to its sociological and technological peculiarities, and economic pressures, will often be laading the way in the conversion to solar energy.

This is already the case in much of Iowa and Illinois, with the use of solar crop drying, renewed interest in windmills, alcohol fuels, and solar heating and cooling and cooling (including barns and feedlots) .

Interest in solar greenhouses is mushrooming.

Iowa PIRG's contention will be supported with careful calculation by its own staff and possible expert witnesses of the likely and feasible uses of solar energy oring theoperating life of the reactors.

Iowa PIRG notes an almost total lack of awareness of such data by the Applicant, and avers that admissibility of its contention will add to the fullness and completeness of the record of the early site review.Iowa has perhaps the most advanced record in the solar energy field in the Midwest. Against that background, it is worth noting that sales of solar equipment for many manufacturers have quadrupled annually for the last five years. While such growth curves are no more likely to continue indefinitely than were the original projections for nuclear electricity, they will have a significant impact that needs to be considered via this contention.

In addition to the agricultural sector, Iowa PIRG also notes that the greatest plume drifts due to wind directions will affect potential urban uses, of some economic values, to the NNE, NE, and NW, primarily parts of Mount Carroll and Savanna, according to Table 5.1-1, and the available maps. Also, directly to the northwest, approximately one kilometer, lies the Plum Grove School.

Financially hard-pressed schools can be expected to move toward solar heating in the future as a means of saving money.

Respectfully submitted, of d$fdamesC.Scnwab Director, Iowa PIRG

_1543 241

..UNITED STATES OF AMERICA NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION BEFORE THE ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSING BOARD In the Matter of

))COMMONWEALTH EDISON COMPANY,)Docket Nos. S-599 et al.)S-600 arroll County Site)

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, James C. Schwab, hereby certify that copies of " Supplementary Brief of Iowa PIRG Concerning Contention No. 9" in the above-captioned proceeding have been served on the following by deposit in the United States mail, first class, this 14th days of November,1979.

John F. Wolf, Esq., Chaiman Mr. Jim Dubert 3409 Shepherd Street Iowa Socialist Party Chevy Chase, Maryland 20015 129 Ash Street Ames, Iowa 50010 Mr. Glenn 0. Bright Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel U.S. Nulear Regulatory Comission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, D.C.

20555 Washington, D.C.

20555 Dr. Robert L. Holton Atomic Safety and Licensing Appeal Board Panel School of Oceanography U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Oregon State University Washington, D.C.

20555 Corvallis, Oregon 97331 Docketing and Service Section Office of the Secretary Richard J. Goddard, Esq.

-Office of the Executive Legal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Drector,9604 MNBB Washington, D.C.

20555 U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Comission Washington, D.C.

20555 Thomas J. Miller Attorney General of Iowa Philip P. Steptoe, Esq.

State Capitol Complex Isham, Lincoln and Beale Des Moines, Iowa 50319-One First National Plaza 42nd Floor Mr. John W. Cox, Jr.

Chicago, Illinois 60603 'Jo Daviess County Ad Hoc Comittee on Nuclear Energy Information Nancy J. Bennett 906 Campbell Street Assistant Attorney General Galena, Illinois 61036 Environmental Control Division 188 West Randolph, Suite 2315 Mr. James L. Runyon Chicago, Illinois 60601 1316 - Second Avenue P.O. Box 307

Rock Island, Illinois 61201.b fY ntk._4} }4}l3/ James C. Schwab