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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
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FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 13 OR 15(D) OF THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) January 28, 1997
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DELMARVA POWER & LIGHT COMPANY
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(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Charter)
Delaware and Virginia I-1405 51-0084283
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(State or Other Jurisdiction (Commission (IRS Employer
of Incorporation) File Number) Identification No.)
800 King Street, P.O. Box 231, Wilmington, Delaware 19899
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's Telephone Number, Including Area Code 302-429-3448
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None
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(Former Name or Former Address, if Changed Since Last Report)
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Item 5. Other Events
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The following information updates matters related to Salem Units 1 and
2 previously reported under "Item 1--Business" of Part I of Delmarva Power
& Light Company's (the "Company") 1995 Annual Report on Form 10-K, "Item
5--Other Information" of Part II of the Company's Report on Form 10-Q for
the quarters ended March 31, 1996, June 30, 1996, and September 30, 1996,
and "Item 5--Other Events" of the Company's Current Reports on Form 8-K
dated May 29, 1996, and July 23, 1996. The following is excerpted from
information reported in a Current Report on Form 8-K dated January 24,
1997, filed by Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), the
operator of the facility referred to below.
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As previously reported, Salem Nuclear Generating Station Units 1
and 2 were taken out of service by PSE&G in the second quarter of
1995. During these outages, PSE&G has made significant changes
and improvements related to the people, processes and equipment
at Salem to improve the long-term reliability of the units.
During the course of these outages, PSE&G has also been required
to address certain generic issues applicable to nuclear power
plants, which have also affected the length of the outages.
Restart of the units is subject to completion of the restart
plans for the units to the satisfaction of PSE&G and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Salem Unit 2 is in the final stage of preparation for restart.
The reactor has been refueled and reassembled and the reactor
coolant pumps have been tested and placed in service. Over 90%
of the total work activities have been completed and
approximately 75% of the plant systems have been restored. The
unit is currently scheduled to enter Mode 4 in early February
which will allow additional testing to be performed in
preparation for startup.
Recently, a Generic Letter from the NRC (used to notify the
nuclear industry of issues affecting plants generally) identified
an issue that will impact the Salem Unit 2 startup schedule.
Generic Letter (96-06) requested all nuclear utilities, including
PSE&G, to review systems for potential waterhammer events
(hydrodynamic stress caused by steam formation in a piping
system) and the impact that these events could have on the
system's safety function. PSE&G has determined that in order to
address the concerns of the Generic Letter, modifications are
necessary to the containment fan coil units of Salem Units 1 and
2, which provide containment air cooling. As a result of
installation of these modifications and the time required for NRC
acceptance of PSE&G's proposed resolution of the Generic Letter
issues, the start up of Salem Unit 2 will be delayed, which
results in an expected return to service in the second quarter of
1997.
Salem Unit 1 is expected to return to service in the summer of
1997, after replacement of the unit's four steam generators,
which was required in order to correct a generic problem with
certain pressurized water reactors. Removal of the
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old steam generators has been completed and installation of the
new steam generators is underway. Salem Unit 1 will also require
modifications similar to Salem Unit 2 to respond to the NRC
Generic Letter, but such modifications are not expected to delay
the unit's return to service.
As mentioned, restart of both Salem units is subject to NRC
approval, which cannot be assured. On January 14, 1997, Senator
Joseph Biden of Delaware wrote to the NRC to request that the
full Commission vote on the decision to restart Salem, rather
than permit the NRC staff to authorize the restart under
applicable NRC rules. The NRC has not yet responded to Senator
Biden's request.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934,
the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
Delmarva Power & Light Company
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(Registrant)
Date: January 28, 1997 /s/DALE G. STOODLEY
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Dale G. Stoodley
Vice President and
General Counsel
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