WPPSS
Last plant completed, six years late
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Washington Public Power
Supply System's sole remaining nuclear project was
declared officially complete today during ceremonies at
which utility industry officials pledged to finish two other
troubled projects.
The ceremony for the No. 2 plant at the Hanford
nuclear reservation came 11 years and $2.4 billion after con
struction began. The plant originally was scheduled for
completion in September 1977 with a price tag of $400
million to $500 million.
Two other WPPSS projects have been terminated and
two are mothballed for at least three years.
About 2,500 people, most wearing hard hats, attended
the ceremony at the No. 2 project on the Hanford nuclear
reservation.
A large green tag was lowered on the side of the pro
ject, declaring, "All Systems Complete." The tag is similar
to thousands of small tags dangling from pieces of equp
ment in the plant.
"We have two more plants to complete," Peter
Johnson, administrator of the Bonneville Power Administra
tion, said in reference to the mothballed projects. "You
build on success and this is a success. We will complete the
other two projects as well."
Mazur responded, "We stand ready to do it when you
say and do it right."
Mazur noted early problems with the No. 2 plant, in
cluding "sloppy management.
"We've been through a lot. We have had to prove to
the world that it is safe and we have."
Mazur also noted that the supply system now is an
operating public utility rather than just a construction
body.
"We will protect the ratepayers' investment and we will
operate it safely," he said.
The No. 2 plant must stili receive an operating license
Program picks PE
The University's doctoral program in physical
education and human movement studies was chosen
recently for inclusion in the regional graduate pro
gram of the Western Interstate Commission for
Higher Education.
The College of Human Development and Perfor
mance was selected to represent WICHE in this
academic area because of its international reputation
and the program's uniqueness in the region, accor
ding to Celeste Ulrich, the college dean.
"We are delighted about our program's accep
tance. This will be a benefit to students in the
western states and at the same time will help with
recruiting and enrollment at the university," she
says.
Programs in historic preservation, molecular
biology and the neurosciences are also part of the
WICHE program.
The program was developed in 1981 to make ex
pensive graduate study more accessible to students
in the West and to help states avoid duplication in
these academic fields.
from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and pass a
rigorous five-month testing program.
"This gives us a feeling that we are succeeding, said
Jerry Martin, manager of the No. 2 plant. "I feel good about
this plant."
Work on the project was halted in 1980 by a 5Vi-month
labor dispute and an NRC stop-work order based on safety
questions raised by the commission's staff. The NRC also
fined WPPSS $59,500, but allowed construction to resume
in 1981.
The supply system essentially built the plant for the
BPA and its cost is already reflected in the wholesale power
rates BPA charges Northwest utilties.
When operating at full power, the plant will produce
enough electricity to power a city the size of Seattle, which
has a population of about 494,000.
Martin and Mazur will meet with NRC officials in
Washington, D.C., later this week to discuss the operating
license for No. 2.
Martin is confident the NRC's remaining questions can
be easily resolved and a license granted in November,
clearing the way for the loading of nuclear fuel.
"I suspect they will run down to the wire and then
everything will be resolved," he said in an interview. Martin
said fuel loading could begin 10 minutes after the license is
issued.
While the plant is only 99.9 percent finished, in the
nuclear industry, that's considered complete.
"No power plant is ever 100 percent complete," said Af
flerbach. "There is always something that needs to be
done."
About 2,500 people, most wearing hard hats, attended
the ceremony at the No. 2 project. A large green tag was
lowered on the side of the project, declaring, "All Systems
Complete." The tag is similar to thousands of smaller tags
dangling from pieces of equipment in the plant.
NRC to review financial status
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The Nuclear Regulatory Com
mission has been asked by a congressional subcommittee
to determine whether the Washington Public Power Supply
System's shaky financial situation may affect licensing of
the supply system's lone active project.
The nuclear project, No. 2 at the Hanford nuclear reser
vation, was declared officially complete at a ceremony
Tuesday.
Supply system officials believe that technical questions
of the NRC can be resolved without delaying the scheduled
start-up of the facility next spring.
But the financial questions apparently add a new twist
to the licensing procedures.
At hearings last week, the House Energy and Conserva
tion Subcommittee asked the NRC to look at the supply
system's financial status and what impact it might have on
licensing the plant.
“We're researching it," Tom Bishop of the NRC's
Region 5 staff in Walnut Creek, Calif., said in a telephone
interview Tuesday.
The NRC legal staff in Washington, D.C., is studying the
question and a written reply will be prepared, Bishop said.
No deadline has been set.
Asked whether the study could delay licensing, Bishop
said, "It's conceivable. Anything is possible. We need to ad
dress this issue."
Bishop, director of the Region 5 Division of Resident
Reactor Projects and Engineering Programs, said it was his
personal opinion that "we need to be assured if there was a
significant program they would have the resources to deal
with it."
WPPSS officials said Tuesday they were not aware of
the study.
"I have no knowledge of it," Don Mazur, WPPSS
managing director, said. "The only outstanding questions I
am aware of involve technical issues that should be relative
ly easy to dispose of."
WPPSS hopes to receive the license in early November
so it can load nuclear fuel into the reactor and begin the
five-month testing program leading to commercial
operation.
A little over two years ago, the supply umber of faculty
will benefit the students most directly by reducing the stu
dent/faculty ratio and allowing professors more time for in
dividual work with advanced students. It will also increase
the number of courses the department can offer.
"You defaulted on a $2.25 billion debt on the two ter
minated plants. The default touched off a series of lawsuits
that could conceivably lead to a court order attaching the
supply system's assets.
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