n062  1446  19 Dec 81
BC-YORKNUKE
Eds. Following is an Added Starter N.Y. Times Page One.
By MATTHEW L. WALD
c. 1981 N.Y. Times News Service
    NEW YORK - The Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant operated only 11
days a month, on the average, for the first 11 months of this year.
As a result, the operating cost per kilowatt-hour were twice those in
1980.
    Nonetheless, the plant cost comparatively less to operate than a
typical oil-fired plant, where those costs started higher, and rose
even more. rose to 2.51 cents for fuel, maintenance and operating
expenses, doubling from 1980, when it was 1.22 cents. But the plant
was a bigger bargain for consumers this year than last, because at a
typical oil-fired plant,
    For the 7 1/2-year-old plant in Buchanan, N.Y., which is owned by the
Consolidated Edison Co., 1981 will be its second-worst year in terms
of time in operation, and a sharp drop from 1980, when it averaged
17 1/2 days a month.
    The difference in cost, and the reactor's outages, or shutdowns, are
important to consumers, because under a system in use in New York
since before World War I, Con Edison may bill its customers for the
cost of fuel used. When the fuel is uranium, they pay less. When it
is oil, they pay substantially more. Earlier this year, when a leak
of river water shut the plant, consumers paid $571,000 more each day
for 59 days.
    The state Public Service Commission is scheduled to decide Tuesday
whether a large part of the flooding was Con Edison's fault, and if
so, whether it should refund to its customers $33.7 million of the
extra charges it added to their bills. According to the company, the
shutdown added about $3 a month to the bill of a typical residential
customer in Westchester, using 400 kilowatt hours, which then cost
$48 a month. For city customers, who usually use less power, the
increase was a little less.
    Indian Point 3, owned by the Power Authority of the State of New
York, will finish the year with a record very little better than
Indian Point 2, but because it is publicly owned, there is less
concern over how to allocate the costs.
    Regardless of the Public Service Commission's decision, because the
initial cost of the reactor was relatively small and because the cost
of oil is so high, the plant will continue to save money for
consumers, almost no matter how badly it operates.
    In 1980, for example, it cost Con Ed $25.7 million for depreciation,
capital retirement, and decommissioning costs for Indian Point 2, or
about 1.4 cents per kilowatt-hour. At the oil-fired Ravenswood plant,
in Queens, depreciation and capital retirement costs that year came
to $70.5 million, about 1.1 cents per kilowatt-hour. But at
Ravenswood, the fuel cost per kilowatt hour was 4.24 cents; at Indian
Point, it was .53 cents. Only a near-complete shutdown of the nuclear
plant, or a return of oil prices to the $12-a-barrel level which
prevailed before the Iranian revolution would make the plant
uneconomical.
    However, Indian Point 2's actual benefits for Consolidated Edison's
2.7 million customers have always fallen far short of the potential.
Since it began commercial operation, on July 1, 1974, and until the
end of last month, Indian Point 2 has been available for use 62.1
percent of the time, although during some of that period, it could
not operate at maximum output because of mechanical problems. In
contrast, in the same period, Con Ed's 11 major oil-fired generating
stations have been available 75.8 percent of the time, on average.
    
nyt-12-19-81 1747est
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