Shoreham Gets OK to Operate at Full Power

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission granted a full-power operating license to the controversial Shoreham nuclear power plant Thursday in a gesture that may ultimately prove to be symbolic.

The commission voted 4 to 0 to grant the license, ending years of hearings that produced reams of testimony and cost millions of dollars. It is the first U.S. nuclear plant to be licensed on the basis of a utility-formulated emergency plan, rather than one created by the state and local governments.

The Long Island Lighting Co., which owns the 809-megawatt reactor, has agreed not to bring the plant up to full power pending a vote by shareholders to scrap the $5.5-billion plant.

May Sell Plant for $1

The vote, expected before June 15, will make or break a deal under which the company would sell Shoreham to New York state for $1 in exchange for a decade of annual rate increases. The state would then oversee the decommissioning and dismantling of the plant, which was once promoted as the solution to Long Island’s energy shortages.

Long Island Lighting was forced to draw up its own emergency evacuation plan after New York state, Suffolk County and the town of Southampton on Long Island withdrew support for the plant, contending that the zone around Shoreham could not be safely evacuated in case of an accident.

The opposition kept Shoreham’s request for a license tied up before the commission for years and led the NRC to change its rules in late 1987 to allow utilities to formulate evacuation plans under the assumption that state and local governments would cooperate in the event of a true emergency.

Shoreham, situated about 90 miles east of New York City, was completed in 1984, more than 10 years behind schedule and almost 75 times over its original $75-million budget. The plant loaded fuel in January, 1985, and received a 5% low-power testing license in July, 1985.