ML20136C436

Forwards News Article, Analyses Needed Before Plant Closes, from 970111 Courant

ML20136C436
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Site:	Haddam Neck File:Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co icon.png
Issue date:	01/11/1997
From:	Blanch P AFFILIATION NOT ASSIGNED
To:	Hannon J, Mulley G, Zwolinski J NRC (Affiliation Not Assigned), NRC OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL (OIG)
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90A From PAUL BLANCH <PMBLANCH91x.netcom.com>

To WND2.WNP3 (j a z , j nh) , TWD1.TWP4 (gam, wj s) , WND1.WNP2 (hj . . .

Dates 1/11/97 5:44am Subjects CY DECOMMISSIONING ANALYSES NEEDED BEFORE PLANT CLOSES By SUSAN E. KINSMAN This story ran in the Courant January 11, 1997 The Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant in Haddam is in limbo.

Federal regulators said Friday that Northeast Utilities - the principal owner and operator - has given up the right to operate the plant. But the work of decontaminating and dismantling the reactor is on hold until the utility completes critical safety analyses.

Spokesmen for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the utility must first finish updating the plant's final safety analysis _ report - the massive reference document detailing the plant's design and the safe operation of its systems.

Although fewer analyses may need to be done because the plant is no longer operating, the utility will not be able to ignore.

serious safety issues previously identified in the plant's paperwork.

To the extent there are any underlying questions of management controls and changes to design, the issues will have to be resolved to the NRC's satisfaction before major [ closing) activities can proceed, said Stephen H. Lewis, a' regulatory attorney for the NRC's Office of General Counsel.

The NRC expects to receive the report by midyear, said Michael Masnik, acting chief of the NRC's decommissioning section in Rockville, Md., which oversees the_ closing of plants.

Masnik and Lewis were among a half-dozen'NRC' staff members who briefed reporters Friday about what lies ahead as the utility begins the long process of shutting down, decontaminating and taking apart the reactor, which has operated on the banks of the Connecticut River.since 1968.

The NRC's focus is solely on removal of the radiological

' hazards even if the company plans, as NU does, to remove all buildings from the site eventually.

In its latest filing with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the company estimates that the work will cost

$426.7 million in 1996 dollars and take eight years - from this s

9703120005 970306 NRRA PDR ORO p q>

year to 2003 - to complete.

However, the utility told the IERC that it expects to continue

-to store used fuel rods in the cooling pool on the site for another 19 years, until 2022,.when it expects to. turn over any remaining fuel to the federal government.

NU said that $197.9 million for decommissioning expenses had been collected from power purchasers - the 10 utility companies that share ownership of the 583-megawatt reactor - through

, Sept. 30.

It proposes to collect the rest in annual installments through 2007, the date on which the plant's operating license-would have expired. The filing last month asked the FERC for l permission to increase the annual decommissioning charge to the joint owners from $15.2 million to $24.8 million.

Connecticut Yankee was shut down because of safety concerns in July. The shutdown was extended for an early refueling, but those activities stopped in October when NU said it was likely that the plant would be closed permanently because of economic reasons.

The joint owners decided Dec. 4 to retire the plant with 11 years remaining on its operating license. An economic analysis i showed they could save more than $130 million by closing the l plant now and purchasing replacement power instead of operating the plant until its license expired.

Shortly afterward, NU filed notice with the NRC that the plant i had ceased operations permanently, and that the nuclear fuel l had been removed from the reactor vessel.

l With the notification, NU lost the right to operate the reactor, Masnik said. It also makes the utility eligible for reduced license fees, and reduces some of the regulatory requirements i imposed on operating reactors.

l i For example, the utility no longer has to monitor the reactor l- vessel for embrittlement. But for the time being, it must

! maintain backup power supplies and other safety systems necessary to maintain cooling of the spent fuel.

Within two years, NU has to submit a decommissioning plan -

which the NRC calls a post-shutdown decommissioning activities report - detailing its plans and expected costs.

l l The NRC would publish a notice that it had received the report i and hold a public meeting 60 days later. But 90 days after j submitting the report and 30 days after the public meeting, the

utility could begin major decommissioning activities at the

' plant. Those may include removing the ' irradiated steam l generators and internal piping for disposal out of state.

The only restrictions on decommissioning work done without NRC l

approval are: The work cannot foreclose the eventual

unrestricted use of the site; it cannot jeopardize adequate l funding for decommissioning; and it cannot cause any l significant environmental impact not previously reviewed.

No public hearings are required under the regulations until the utility is ready to give up its license and the NRC is ready to ,

l certify that it is clean enough for unrestricted use. i However, Masnik said this does not mean that the utility can do what it wants, when it wants, without public and regulatory supervision.

l The utility first has to provide a detailed analysis showing that the activity passes environmental muster. There are also l stringent requirements that must be met before any radioactive

! component can be shipped off-site by truck, rail _or barge, he said.

The NRC and NU have scheduled a hearing Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Haddam-Killingworth High School to answer decommissioning questions from the public.

l CY DECOMMISSIONING I Paul M. Blanch Energy Consultant l 135 Hyde Rd.

West Hartford CT 06117 Tel: 860-236-0326 Fax: 860-232-9350 i

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