Congress members ask NRC to delay Indian Pt. decision

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

Congress members ask NRC to delay Indian Pt. decision

NEW YORK, July 12 (Reuters) - On the eve of the U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission's (NRC) impending decision on Consolidated 
Edison Inc.'s <ED.N> application to restart its idled Indian Point 2 
nuclear reactor, three members of the U.S. Congress asked the agency 
on Monday to delay its decision. 

The New York Representatives, Sue Kelly, Benjamin Gilman and Nita 
Lowey, who have been working with the NRC to ensure the safety of 
Indian Point 2 prior to restart, have asked the federal agency to 
deny Con Ed's restart request prior to replacing the unit's steam 
generators. 

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

After repairing the leaky steam generator tube, Con Ed asked the NRC 
for permission to restart the reactor in early June. The NRC, which 
was expected to make a decision by the end of June, has delayed due 
to the time needed to evaluate the hundreds of pages which constitute 
Con Ed's application. 

After the radiation leak, the NRC opened investigations to discover 
the causes of the incident, which shed light on several problems with 
Con Ed's operation of the plant. 

The investigation also uncovered past problems with the NRC's 
oversight of Con Ed as the operator of the plant, leading the agency 
to open an internal investigation into its own past activities. 

After the NRC opened the internal investigation, the New York 
Representatives asked the U.S. Inspector General to open an 
investigation of the NRC. 

And, the New York Representatives also asked the U.S. General 
Accounting Office (GAO) to study the history and safety of Indian 
Point 2. 

In their July 11 letter, the Congress members asked the NRC to delay 
any decision on Con Ed's restart application until after the 
Inspector General and the GAO have completed their investigations. 

In the past, the NRC's Regional Administrator, Hubert Miller, has 
said the agency would coordinate its efforts with the Inspector 
General, but would not necessarily wait for the Inspector General to 
file its report before deciding on Con Ed's application. 

Many wholesale electricity traders said the NRC would have to make a 
decision soon or it will likely not matter because the traders expect 
Con Ed will withdraw its application. 

"Con Ed only needs the plant in service for the months of July and 
August. Even if the NRC gives the go ahead, the plant won't be on 
line until the third week of July at best," one Houston-based 
electricity trader said. 

"Once we get into the fourth week of July, it really won't be worth 
the political and financial trouble for Con Ed to keep fighting. 
They'll probably just withdraw their application and start replacing 
the steam generators," the Houston-based trader said. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Biomedicals, Inc.				E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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