Fed Panel To Hear Expansion Plans For Comanche Peak - Est. Cost - $15 - $27 Billion For 2 Units

A fight over whether to build two generating units at the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant near Glen Rose will be centered in the Hood County seat of Granbury six days from now. A panel of the federal Atomic Safety and Licensing Board will hear oral arguments beginning at 9 a.m. Wednesday on a request by opponents of the plant’s expansion that they be granted intervener status. If they are successful, a public hearing would be held regarding their opposition to Luminant Generation’s application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a license to operate the two units.

The arguments will be heard in the jury selection room of the Hood County Justice Center, 1200 Pearl St. If necessary, the hearing will continue the next morning.

The arguments will be open to the general public, but only as observers. Participation will be limited to the opposition coalition, NRC staff and Luminant, the Dallas-based power generator that operates Comanche Peak and is a unit of Energy Future Holdings, the former TXU Corp. Early arrival is urged to allow for security screening, the NRC said, adding that its policy "prohibits signs, banners, posters or displays in the hearing room."

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Luminant has estimated that it would cost $15 billion to build two 1,700-megawatt units and that a license might be secured by December 2012. Construction could take four years, the company said. In a report prepared for Public Citizen, former Texas utility regulatory official Clarence Johnson estimated that two new units could cost anywhere from $23.8 billion to $27.6 billion, thus raising concerns about the cost of new nuclear facilities and a potential escalation in electric rates.

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