Con Ed's Plans to Restart Reactor Delayed by NRC

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

Con Ed's Plans to Restart Reactor Delayed by NRC
  
New York, July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Consolidated Edison Inc. is 
expected to delay the restart of one of the two reactors at the 
Indian Point nuclear plant to resolve concerns raised by the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The delay is a blow to Con Ed, which wants to have the reactor 
back in service this summer to meet surging demand for electricity 
in the New York City area. 

Indian Point 2 has been shut down since February after a leak in a 
tube inside the steam generator released a small amount of 
radiation. Con Ed can't restart the reactor without permission from 
the NRC. 

The company said it paid $90 million to buy power to replace lost 
production. Electricity prices in New York averaged $40.63 a 
megawatt-hour from February to today, up 46 percent from $27.85 
in the year-ago period. 

The NRC has asked Con Ed to provide more information about how 
the company will fix problems with the reactor's steam generator, 
which transfers heat from boiling water to power a generating 
turbine. Con Ed expects to issue a response to the NRC's request 
for information shortly, said Joseph Petta, a company spokesman. 

New York-based Con Ed is buying about half of the electricity for 
its customers this summer on the open market, where prices have 
been soaring. The utility said customer rates could rise as much 
as 30 percent over last year. 

Indian Point is located in Buchanan, New York, 35 miles north of 
New York City. The Indian Point No. 2 reactor generates 939 
megawatts of electricity, enough to light about 939,000 homes. 

The second reactor at Indian Point, Indian Point 3, is owned by the 
New York Power Authority. It's running and produces 965 
megawatts. 

Con Ed sells power to 3 million customers in New York City and 
neighboring Westchester County. The company is planning to 
auction off its Indian Point reactor to focus on the business of 
charging fees to deliver electricity over its high-voltage wires. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 				                           
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
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