FORM 8-K
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report: January 24, 1997
PECO ENERGY COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
PENNSYLVANIA1- 140123- 0970240
(State or other (SEC file (IRS Employer
jurisdiction of number) Identification
incorporation)
230l Market Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19101
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
Registrant's telephone number, including area code:
(215) 841-4000
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Item 5. Other Events
On January 24, 1997, Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) filed a
Current Report on Form 8-K concerning, among other things, the restart
activities at Salem Nuclear Generating Station (Salem), operated by PSE&G. The
Form 8-K provides the following with respect to Salem:
"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 NRC.
Salem Unit No. 2 is in the final state 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 [see note
below], 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 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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Note: It is the Company's belief that the earliest that Salem Unit 1 will
return to service is late in the third quarter of 1997.
<PAGE>
SIGNATURES
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.
PECO ENERGY COMPANY
\s\ J. B. Mitchell
Vice President - Finance
and Treasurer
January 24, 1997
