State official approves new reactor

Bright says project in public interest

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

If his recommendation is accepted by PSC, the plant's owners will be permitted to begin some construction on the site.

Joel Bright, PSC's hearing examiner for the case, wrote that after examining the application for Certification of Public Convenience and Necessity and testimony from applicants and opponents, he concludes the project is in the public interest because "the plant will constitute a new large source of power that would be of benefit to the citizens and State of Maryland, with the record showing that such plant location at the site of an existing nuclear plant campus will reduce impacts … This third nuclear plant at Calvert Cliffs is also strongly supported by the local government and community. While the record reflects that there are opponents to the plant and to nuclear power that have expressed concerns during the course of this proceeding, the plant will be a merchant power plant for which ratepayers will not bear financial risks, which was a primary focus of opposition from the opposing parties."

The plant would also have a smaller environmental impact than a fossil-fuel plant, Bright wrote.

Bright's decision also waived a two-year waiting period for beginning construction on the site, something that will allow UniStar Nuclear Energy, a consortium of current plant owner Constellation Energy and French energy company Electricite de France, to begin preparing the site.

Bright's order will become final on May 29 unless any of the parties involved files an appeal or the PSC itself opts to extend the proceedings, according to Bright's report.

Opponents of the project are still considering whether or not to file an appeal, according to Allison Fisher, energy program organizer with Public Citizen, a consumer and environmental group based in Washington, D.C., a member of a coalition of nonprofit groups.

"It's hard to say right now. We do have 30 days from the time they issued the permit, so … we have not officially announced whether we will appeal, but we were certainly disappointed in the decision thus far. … We feel like issuance of the permit is certainly premature. At this point, it's going to be several years before the [U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission] process is completed; meanwhile they'll be able to break ground. This is just premature," she said.

A statement released by the Chesapeake Safe Energy Coalition called the proposed reactor's design "unproven and controversial," said French company EDF is "unfit to operate in Maryland" and that PSC's hearing process was inadequate to ensure meaningful public participation.

The release also suggested that while reactor supporters have won this battle they may have not won the war, which is "far from over." The coalition is intervening in another PSC case concerning EDF's stake in the reactor as well as NRC proceedings.

UniStar spokeswoman Maureen Brown hailed the decision though she stressed that the company has not yet decided to build the reactor.

"It paves the way for us to do preliminary site work to support the construction of a new reactor, but as we've said a number of times there are several factors we are weighing before we make a decision to go forward and one of the significant ones is federal loan guarantees," she said. "… It serves as approval for state permits that are required before any construction can begin. There is a federal approval process and we've been tracking the NRC combined license application process, but we would be in a position to begin preliminary site work and indeed it is our hope that we would be able to start preliminary site work before the end of 2009."

County Director of Economic Development Linda Vassallo also praised the decision.

"Obviously, we're pretty happy about this. We've been working for quite some time … It appears very thorough. They've done a complete review of all the environmental impacts that encompass the Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity. We'll continue to look at this, of course, make sure we have all the information, but at first blush it looks very positive, very, very positive," she said.

emitrano@somdnews.com