BGE Predicts Early Renewal Decision

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

Nuclear Plant Predicts Early Renewal Decision  

Washington Post Thursday, February 18, 1999; Page M01  

Baltimore Gas & Electric's efforts to make its Calvert Cliffs Nuclear 
Power Plant the first in the country to win a renewed operating 
license are going "extremely well," and the utility predicts it will win 
renewal by next year, a BGE executive told Calvert County 
commissioners Tuesday.  

"We fully expect renewal early next year," said James Lemons, 
BGE's manager for nuclear support services, during an annual 
report to the board. "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is 
pushing this; their senior staff is pushing hard because they want 
to prove this can happen."  

News that a decision on Calvert Cliffs might come next year is a 
significant reduction in the schedule originally advanced by federal 
officials who estimated last year a decision would come sometime 
between 2001 and 2003. The NRC, which regulates the nation's 
107 nuclear plants, will have the final say over whether the license 
is renewed.  

Lemons said the process is moving faster than the government or 
the utility expected. "Being the first plant in the country to try this, 
we didn't know how long it would take and the NRC didn't know 
how long," he said.  

Calvert Cliffs actually holds two licenses because it operates two 
reactors. The first began running in 1975 and is licensed until 2014. 
The second went on line in 1977 and is licensed until 2016. BGE is 
seeking 20-year renewals that would extend the lives of the 
reactors to 2034 and 2036, respectively.  

Calling 1998 a "banner year" for Calvert Cliffs, Lemons said the 
plant produced a record amount of electricity -- 13.3 million 
megawatts. He attributed that to the fact that the plant's annual 
shutdown for repairs and maintenance was the shortest in its 
history, lasting only 55 days. Every day the plant is shut down is 
one day less the plant produces revenue.  

BGE officials are hoping this year's annual shutdown, which begins 
March 12, will last only 45 days, Lemons said. The shutdown 
traditionally pumps dollars into the local economy because it 
brings as many as 2,000 temporary workers into Calvert County to 
work at the plant.  

Calvert Cliffs is a major generator for BGE, providing about half the 
electricity sold by the utility. It is also a major revenue producer for 
Calvert County, employing 1,340 full-time workers and paying the 
county's single largest property tax bill, which finances 20 percent 
of the county's operating budget.  

Lemons also said the plant has corrected safety problems that led 
to 24 violations cited by the NRC in 1997 and 19 violations in 1998. 
 

The NRC fined BGE $55,000 for violating safety rules on several 
occasions last April. The violations, which involved improper 
monitoring of workers in high-radiation areas and did not pose a 
risk to the general public, sparked criticism and concern from 
environmental and watchdog groups.  

Meanwhile, Lemons said, the plant has assigned 45 full-time 
employees to the Y2K problem, the potential glitch that could 
result if computer software fails to recognize the beginning of the 
year 2000. He said BGE executives expect all of the plant's 
computerized safety equipment will be Y2K-ready by July. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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