TMI Update: Jan 14, 2024

Three Mile Island Nuclear Station, Unit 1: Request for Exemption From Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 50, Appendix R Requirements (TAC No. ME0771)

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From the Huffington Post:

Scientists, researchers and other experts warn that the United States is entering an era of water scarcity. Back in 2003, the US General Accounting Office (now known as the US Government Accountability Office or GAO) projected that 36 states, under normal conditions, could face water shortages by 2013. However, those shortages were realized in 2008 -- five years sooner than predicted. Current forecasts suggest that climate change will only exacerbate the challenges of managing and protecting water resources.

Water scarcity has widespread implications for our nation. As a recent New York Times (Global Edition) article notes, water scarcity is increasingly a major constraint for the production of electricity. But what, in particular, does this mean for the nation's fleet of nuclear power plants?

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From the New York Times:

Approval of the design for the Westinghouse AP 1000 reactor is slowly moving forward at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as are financial arrangements for building the nation’s first one, near Augusta, Ga. Yet the argument about whether its design is safer than past models is advancing, too.

On June 18, the Southern Company, the utility holding company that is building it, and the Department of Energy announced that they had come to final terms on a federal loan guarantee that would allow the project to go forward. The guarantee is for 70 percent of the company’s costs, not to exceed $3.4 billion. (Georgia Power, the Southern subsidiary building the plant, owns 45.7 percent of it; other partners also got loan guarantees.)

Lots of details have yet to be agreed upon, though. One is that the reactor is surrounded by a shield building meant to protect it from hazards like crashing airplanes, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not convinced that the shield building would survive earthquakes and other natural hazards. Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba, is doing new analytical work to try to convince the commission staff of its safety.

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From the Professional Reactor Operator Society:

The NRC issued an Inspection Report dated May 2008 and noted (from previous reports also) that a small amount of contaminated water was leaking from the Unit 2 spent fuel pool and subsequent additional subsrface groundwater contamination emanating from the Unit 1 spent fuel pool system. At that time Entergy committed to remove and transfer all spent fuel from Unit 1 Spent Fuel Pool to Indian Point's Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation, and drain the spent fule pool by Dec 31, 2008.

Entergy is seeking a license amendment request to authorize the transfer of spent fuel from the spent fuel pool at Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit NO.3 (IP3) to the spent fuel pool at Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit No.2 (IP2) using a newly designed transfer canister. From there, Entergy intends to transfer the spent fuel to the independent spent fuel storage installation which already exists at the site.

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From Vermont Public Radio:

(Host) Vermont utility regulators will not allow the proposed spin-off of Vermont Yankee into a new company.

The Public Service Board said the corporate restructuring was financially risky, and was not good for the public.

As VPR's John Dillon reports, the ruling appears to close the books on the deal.

(Dillon) For several years, Entergy tried to convince regulators and lawmakers that it made sense to borrow $4 billion dollars to create a new company called Enexus. The debt-heavy company would own Vermont Yankee and five other aging nuclear plants.

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Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit Nos. 2 and 3: Request for withholding Information From Public Disclosure (TAC Nos. MD9154 and MD9155)

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Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit No. 2: Acceptance of Requested Licensing Action to change Safety Limit Minimum Critical Power Ratios (TAC No. ME3994)

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The OpposePPL.com website is now live.  "The purpose of this site is to provide energy users with 'plain english' information about PPL's proposed rate increase."

From Cleveland.com:

FirstEnergy Corp. said Monday it has purchased a replacement lid for the Davis-Besse reactor near Toledo and wants to install it in 2011.

Davis-Besse has been shut down since Feb. 28 for extensive work to repair cracks in the lid that sprouted unexpectedly in critical components. Such cracks can allow radioactive coolant into the reactor's containment building -- or worse. Federal rules require an immediate shutdown if leaks are detected.

The cracks are similar to fissures that opened up in the late 1990s in parts of Davis-Besse's original lid and led to a pineapple-sized corrosion hole in that lid before it was discovered in 2002.

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On Friday, February 26, 2010 PPL increased its dividend to shareholders then the following Monday March 1, 2010 PPL issued a media release titled "PPL Electric Utilities to request modest distribution rate increases for 2011." To conclude the statement of reasons for the increase PPL stated, "PPL Electric's proposed distribution rate increase is just and reasonable and should be approved by the Commission."

PPL states it is modest, just, and reasonable to:

• Increase its rates $114,676,490 annually
• Increase residential customer service charges 82%
• Increase PPL's portion of the average residential bill 27%
• Require residential customers to pay 100% of the increase
• Request a rate increase every few years
• Implement a rate structure that provides the greatest increase to smallest users

PPL believes that its proposed rate increase is modest, just, and reasonable; do you? The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission has ordered an investigation into the lawfulness, justness, and reasonableness of PPL's rates, rules, and regulations. Sustainable Energy Fund encourages all consumers affected by the proposed rate increase to come to the hearings.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

6PM

Harrisburg

Commonwealth Keystone Building
2nd Floor Hearing Room,
400 North St.
Harrisburg, PA 17120

"We have concluded that the best policy for electric distribution companies, such as PPL Electric Utilities, is to charge a flat monthly fee for electricity delivery services, rather than fees based on the kilowatt-hours used" said John Sipics, PPL's former President, concerning PPL's 2005 rate increase.