Connecticut Light & Power Co – ‘8-K’ for 7/22/96

As of:  Friday, 7/26/96   ·   For:  7/22/96   ·   Accession #:  23426-96-22   ·   File #:  1-11419

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Current Report   —   Form 8-K
Filing Table of Contents

Document/Exhibit                   Description                      Pages   Size 

 1: 8-K         Form 8-K for the Connecticut Light & Power Company     4±    16K 

Document Table of Contents

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)  July 22, 1996         
                                           -----------------

Commission File Number 0-404        
               -----

THE CONNECTICUT LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY         
---------------------------------------         
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)      

CONNECTICUT                      06-0303850       
-----------                      ----------       

(State or other jurisdiction of          (I.R.S. Employer             
incorporation or organization)         Identification No.)          

SELDEN STREET, BERLIN, CONNECTICUT             06037-1616       
-------------------------------------------------------------         
(Address of principal executive offices)          (Zip Code)          

(203) 665-5000          
--------------          
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)          

Not Applicable          
--------------          
(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)           

Item 5. Other Events                                                            

1. Nuclear Operations                                                           

a. Millstone                                                          

 Millstone Unit 1, a 660-MW boiling water reactor, and Millstone Unit 2,
an 870-MW pressurized water reactor, are each owned 81 percent by The           
Connecticut Light and Power Company ("CL&P") and 19 percent by Western          
Massachusetts Electric Company ("WMECO"). Millstone Unit 3, a 1154-MW           
pressurized water reactor, is jointly owned by CL&P (52.93 percent), WMECO      
(12.24 percent), Public Service Company of New Hampshire ("PSNH") (2.85         
percent) and other New England utilities. CL&P, WMECO and PSNH are              
subsidiaries of Northeast Utilities ("NU").                                     

The three Millstone units are located in Waterford, Connecticut.      
Millstone Units 1, 2 and 3 have been out of service since November 4, 1995,     
February 21, 1996 and March 30, 1996, respectively.                             

Another NU subsidiary, Northeast Utilities Service Company ("NUSCO"), 
has been responding to a series of requests from the Nuclear Regulatory         
Commission ("NRC") beginning in December, 1995 seeking assurances that the      
Millstone units would be operated in accordance with the terms of their         
operating licenses and other NRC requirements and regulations and dealing       
with a series of issues that NU has identified in the course of these           
reviews.  Providing these assurances and addressing these issues will be        
components of an Operational Readiness Plan ("ORP") to be developed for each    
of the Millstone units.  The ORP for Millstone 3 was submitted to the NRC on    
July 2, 1996 and is presently being implemented.                                

NUSCO had previously estimated that it would be able to respond to the
NRC requests over the course of the summer, with respect to Millstone 3; by     
the end of the third quarter, with respect to Millstone 2; and by the end of    
the fourth quarter, with respect to Millstone 1. Management now estimates       
that it will fully implement the Millstone 3 ORP during October 1996, that      
the ORP for Millstone 2 will be prepared and completed by the end of 1996 and   
that the ORP for Millstone 1 will not be prepared and completed until well      
into 1997.                                                                      

Following implementation of any ORP, management would expect to file a
letter with the NRC expressing its belief that the subject unit is ready to     
restart.  This letter would be followed by extensive NRC staff inspections.     
The NRC Commissioners would then have to affirmatively vote to allow restart.   

Management had previously estimated the combined cost of replacement  
power for the three Millstone units to range from $21 million to $27 million    
per month. Management now estimates such costs will range from $21 million to   
$30 million per month.  The increase stems from a refinement in prior           
estimates, including generally higher estimates for fossil fuel prices.         

Management cannot predict when the NRC will allow any of the Millstone
units to return to service and thus cannot estimate the total replacement       
power costs the companies will ultimately incur.                                

In addition, management had previously estimated that the companies   
would incur approximately $100 million of incremental nuclear operation and     
maintenance costs, substantially all of which would be expended in 1996.        
Management now estimates NU will expense about $120 million of such costs in    
1996. The corresponding amounts for CL&P, WMECO and PSNH are $95 million, $23   
million and $2 million, respectively.  It is likely these estimates will rise   
as NU and the NRC identify additional issues that need to be resolved.          

$85 million of the $120 million was expensed in the first and second  
quarters of 1996; $68 million for CL&P, $16 million for WMECO and $1 million    
for PSNH.                                                                       

The recovery of fuel and other outage-related costs is subject to     
prudence reviews in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  While it     
is too early to estimate the total amount of such costs or the results of any   
prudence reviews, management believes that there is significant exposure to     
non-recovery of a material amount of such costs.                                

 For further information, see "Electric Operations - Nuclear Operations"
in NU's, CL&P's, WMECO's and PSNH's Form 10-K, Form 8-K dated March 30, 1996    
and June 28, 1996 and Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31,        
1996; NU's and PSNH's Form 8-K dated June 3, 1996; CL&P's and WMECO's Form 8-   
K dated June 6, 1996; and NU's and CL&P's Form 8-K dated June 18, 1996.         

b. Connecticut Yankee                                                 

On July 22, 1996, the Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant ("CY"), a
582-MW pressurized-water reactor located in Haddam, Connecticut, began an       
unscheduled outage as a precautionary measure to evaluate the plant's service   
water system, which provides cooling water to certain critical plant            
components.  CY is owned and operated by the Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power    
Company ("CYAPCO"), the stockholder-sponsors of which are CL&P (34.5            
percent), PSNH (5.0 percent), WMECO (9.5 percent) and other New England         
electric utilities.                                                             

The shut-down began after an analysis of a hypothetical, though       
unlikely, accident scenario which demonstrated that the cooling water system    
might not perform its intended function.  NU moved immediately to shut down     
CY as a precautionary measure and to commence further analysis of the system    
to determine what measures must be taken prior to restart of the unit.          

  Management and the NRC staff are evaluating the situation, and NU cannot
presently estimate the length of the outage or the additional costs             
associated with the outage.                                                     

For information concerning a submittal by CYAPCO to the NRC on May 30,
1996, and  the NRC's review of that submittal, see NU's and PSNH's Form 8-K     
dated June 3, 1996 and CL&P's and WMECO's Form 8-K dated June 6, 1996.          

2. Summer Capacity Situation                                                    

  If CY were to remain out of service, management expects, assuming normal
weather conditions for the remainder of the summer, that it will have           
sufficient capacity to meet peak customer load demands if all remaining units   
are operational.  If high levels of forced outages of the remaining units,      
which could occur due to sustained operation during long periods of hot         
weather, coincide with peak load, NU and the other Connecticut utilities may    
have to resort to operating procedures designed to reduce demand.               

For further information see NU's, CL&P's, WMECO's and PSNH's Form 10-Q
for the quarterly period ended March 31, 1996; NU's and PSNH's Form 8-K dated   
June 3, 1996; and CL&P's and WMECO's Form 8-K dated June 6, 1996.               

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.                                           

           THE CONNECTICUT LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY
           ---------------------------------------
          Registrant

Date  July 25, 1996             By  /s/John B. Keane                            
------------------            ------------------------------------    
   John B. Keane
                  Vice President and Treasurer

Dates Referenced Herein   and   Documents Incorporated by Reference

This ‘8-K’ Filing		Date		Other Filings
Filed on:		7/26/96
		7/25/96
For Period End:		7/22/96
		7/2/96
		6/28/96		8-K
		6/18/96		8-K
		6/6/96		8-K
		6/3/96
		5/30/96
		3/31/96		10-Q
		3/30/96		8-K
		2/21/96
		11/4/95
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