NRC delays restart decision on Con Ed Indian Pt. nuke

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NRC delays restart decision on Con Ed Indian Pt. nuke
  
NEW YORK, June 28 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) said Wednesday it will not, as previously expected, make a 
decision by the end of this week on allowing Consolidated Edison Inc. 
<ED.N> to restart the Indian Point 2 nuclear reactor in New York. 

"Our schedule has changed slightly. We want to do a thorough and 
complete job," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan told Reuters. 

Previously, the NRC said it would take about three weeks from June 9, 
when Con Ed filed all of the requested papers with the federal 
agency. 

Indian Point 2, in Buchanan, N.Y., on the shores of the Hudson River 
about 35 miles north of New York City, has been shut since February 
15, when radioactive water leaked from a crack in one of the 
thousands of tubes inside one of the unit's four steam generators. 

A steam generator, which stands about 70 feet high and 40 feet wide, 
transfers heat from the reactor systems to the power-generating 
portion of a nuclear power plant. 

On June 2, Con Ed filed its operational assessment, which included 
the company's evaluation of the unit's steam generators and the 
company's plan to restart the unit for the summer. Con Ed said it 
would replace the steam generators by the end of the year. 

After Con Ed filed the operational assessment, the NRC asked for 
additional papers, which the New York City-based utility holding 
company provided on June 9. 

"We were not married to the three week period and will not set a 
specific date now. There is a considerable amount of material to pour 
over...Con Ed's justification for restart was several hundred pages. 
And, their answer to a request for additional information was several 
hundred pages more," NRC spokesman Sheehan said. 

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