General Public Utilities – Holding Company that owned Three Mile Island. At the time of the Accident in March 1979, Three Mile Island I and 2 were owned three utilities operating in two states, i.e., Metropolitan Edison (50%), Jersey Central Power & Light (25%) and Pennsylvania Electric (25%). The companies were organized under the General Public Utilities holding company umbrella. The operator of both plants was Met Ed.
Three Mile Island-1 (“TMI-1”), came on line in September 1974 at a cost of $400 million. Legal intervention was conducted by the Environmental Coalition on Nuclear Power (“ECNP”) based in State College.
Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station – In September, 1974, Three Mile Island-1 (819 MW) PWR designed by Babcok & Wilcox came on line. Two years behind schedule and two times over budget .
In December, 1978, Three Mile Island Unit-2 (900 MW) PWR designed by Babcok & Wilcox came on-line three-times over budget, five years behind schedule, and built at a cost to rate payers of $700 million
GPU Nuclear – In September, 1980 , Met Ed renamed itself GPU Nuclear in a bid to disassociate itself from itself. Met Ed continued operate, owned 50% of the plant.
July 17, 1998 – AmerGen Energy (British Energy and Exelon) announced that it reached an Agreement with GPU to purchase TMI-1 for $100 million. The proposed sale includes $23 million for the reactor, and $77 million, payable over five years, for the nuclear fuel. On December 20, 1999, TMI-’s license was transferred from GPU Nuclear to AmerGen.
“Exelon was British Energy’s (BE) partner in the AmerGen joint venture that bought three U.S. nuclear plants–Clinton, Oyster Creek and Three Mile Island-1. As expected, BE received about (U.S.)$ 277-million prior to various adjustments. BE said it will pay a break fee of $8.29-million to FPL Group, following termination of the original sale agreement between BE and FPL after Exelon exercised its right of first refusal and matched FPL’s offer to become the sole owner of the AmerGen plants.” (Platts Nuclear News)
Exelon – Corporate entity created by the merger of PECO Energy and Commonwealth Edison. This company is licensed to operate nuclear generating stations in Illinois and Pennsylvania including Peach Bottom and Three Mile Island-1.
Three Mile Island-2 (“TMI-2”) came on line in December 1978, at a cost of n$700 million, and was grossly over budget and behind schedule. Legal intervention was conducted by the ECNP and Three Mile Island Alert (“TMIA.”)
On March 28, 1979, 4:00 a.m., the Three Mile Island (TMI) Unit-2 core melt began. On March 30, 1979 – Governor Richard Thornburgh recommended an evacuation for preschool children and pregnant women living within five miles of the plant. Schools in the area closed. Out of a target population of 5,000, over 140,000 Central Pennsylvanians fled the area.
TMI-2 remains in Post-Defueling Monitored Storage in 1992. GPU contracts with AmerGen to maintain a skeletal staff presence at TMI-2.
At the time of the Accident in March 1979, Three Mile Island I and 2 were owned three utilities operating in two states, i.e., Metropolitan Edison (50%), Jersey Central Power & Light (25%) and Pennsylvania Electric (25%). The companies were organized under the General Public Utilities holding company umbrella. The operator of both plants was Met Ed.
POL – Possession Only License. A POL is issued by the NRC for a non-operating nuclear reactor, e.g., TMI-2.
FirstEnergy – Electric holding company based in Akron, Ohio. FirstEnergy is licensed to operate nuclear power plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania. FE and General Public Utilities merged in 2001. In November, 2001 – TMI-2 was formally transferred from GPU Nuclear to FirstEnergy. This company is responsible for decommissioning Saxton and TMI-2. GPU contracts with AmerGen to maintain a skeletal staff presence at TMI-2.
Remarks opening Torness nuclear power station
| Document type: | Speeches, interviews, etc. |
|---|---|
| Document kind: | Remarks |
| Venue: | Torness, East Lothian |
| Source: | BBC Radio News Report 1800 15 May 1989 |
| Journalist: | Reeval Alderson, BBC, reporting |
| Editorial comments: | Between 1015 and 1345. |
| Importance ranking: | Minor |
| Word count: | 315 |
| Themes: | Energy |
The Prime Minister has officially opened the Torness nuclear power-station in East Lothian. The plant has been completed at a cost of eighteen-hundred-million pounds. Mrs Thatcher took the opportunity to re-emphasise her commitment to nuclear power, saying Britain needed four more stations by the end of the century. Before Mrs Thatcher arrived at the plant, about two-hundred anti-nuclear protesters held a demonstration. A woman was arrested, apparently after jumping in front of a car in the Prime Minister’s convoy. As our Scottish affairs correspondent, Reeval Alderson, reports, the station has been opened at a time when Scottish miners are about to mount a campaign to save their coalfield: [end p1]
Alderson
Mrs Thatcher used her well-publicised committment to environmental issues to restate the importance of nuclear power in Britain. It is, she said, a vital alternative to fossil fuels because it’s clean and safe. Unlike conventional power stations, nuclear generation doesn’t add to the Greenhouse Effect by increasing the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. So, as the ageing Magnox reactors are phased out Britain will need more nuclear power stations.
Margaret Thatcher PM ACT
We need about four new nuclear power stations between now and the end of the century to replace those Magnox. I’m afraid, our planning procedures are slow but I hope that there’ll be gradually more confidence in them. And, after that, we will have to see, I think, if we can get more.
Alderson
With Torness, sixty per cent of Scotland’s electricity is now nuclear-generated, allowing increased sales to the National Grid. But today’s opening came a day before a campaign is to be launched to save the Bilston Glen Pit, near Edinburgh, which British Coal want to close. If it were to go, Scotland would be left with just one mine employing fewer than two thousand miners.
Rosamond Press 