SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549-1004
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) January 31, 1996
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Commission File Number 1-5324
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NORTHEAST UTILITIES
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
CONNECTICUT 04-2147929
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(State of other jurisdiction of (I.R.S Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
174 BRUSH HILL AVENUE, WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01090-0010
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(Address of principal executive officers) (Zip Code)
(413) 785-5871
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
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(Former name of former address, if changed since last report)
Item 5. Other Events
1. Nuclear Operations
On January 31, 1996, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ("NRC") announced
that the Millstone Nuclear Power Station in Waterford, Connecticut
("Millstone") had been placed on its "watch list" because of longstanding
performance concerns that warranted "increased NRC attention until the
licensee demonstrates a period of improved performance."
Millstone 1, a 660 Megawatt (MW) boiling water reactor, and Millstone 2,
a 870 MW pressurized water reactor, are owned by The Connecticut Light and
Power Company (CL&P) and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO), 81%
and 19% for each, respectively. Millstone 3, a 1,148 MW pressurized water
reactor, is owned by CL&P (52.93%), WMECO (12.24%), and Public Service
Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) (2.85%), and a number of non-affiliates. The
three Millstone units are operated by Northeast Nuclear Energy Company, a
Northeast Utilities (NU) subsidiary. CL&P, WMECO and PSNH are also NU
subsidiaries.
The NRC listed a number of problems which have arisen since 1990 at
Millstone, including licensed reactor operator requalification failures,
repetitive improper maintenance causing an unisolable valve failure, problems
with a supplemental leak collection release system, inadequate erosion-
corrosion monitoring, untimely corrective action involving a heater drain
tank recirculation line rupture, poor testing control causing an inadvertent
drain-down of a reactor vessel, a high number of safety system failures,
safety relief valve setpoint drift problems, untimely corrective actions for
identified design deficiencies, failures to implement procedures which
precipitated significant plant events and in some cases endangered plant
staff and failure to comply with safety-related aspects of Millstone's Final
Safety Analysis Report ("FSAR") and portions of other requirements. Also
mentioned were two instances of escalated enforcement actions by the NRC for
harassment, intimidation and discrimination against employees raising safety
concerns and a continuing high volume of employee allegations of safety
concerns not being resolved appropriately by NU.
The NRC recognized that at present there are significant current
variations in the performance of the three units, but the foregoing events,
combined with a failure to sustain performance improvements across all three
units and to resolve employee concerns, required continued close NRC
monitoring of programs and performance at Millstone to assure development and
implementation of effective corrective action programs.
The NRC did not specifically restrict operations at the Millstone units,
but management expects that the increased NRC attention will inevitably have
effects and costs that cannot be accurately estimated at this time.
Management plans to continue its extensive efforts already underway to
address these concerns. For instance, concurrently with the NRC's action, NU
has provided to the NRC the results of a comprehensive self-assessment review
of the employee concern program at Millstone. The three month review included
candid feedback from employees and concurs with a number of issues raised by
the NRC.
Millstone 1's latest refueling and maintenance outage, which began
November 4, 1995 and was scheduled to end December 23, 1995, has been
extended to early April while NU conducts a review of the unit's FSAR and an
overall assessment of its readiness to restart. Millstone 2 and 3 are
currently operating at full power.
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.
NORTHEAST UTILITIES
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Registrant
Date January 31, 1996 By /s/ John B. Keane
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John B. Keane
Vice President and Treasurer
