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The company orchestrating one of the largest moving projects in Lancaster County history wants to talk to the public.
Representatives from the France-based AREVA Inc. are scheduling meetings for the week of June 8 at the Conoy Township building, Columbia High School and Solanco High School to present information and answer questions about the company's plans to move two 510-ton steam generators through Lancaster County. The journey will begin in Port Deposit, Md., and end when the generators are delivered to the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island in Dauphin County.
The 70-mile move is expected to take about 20 days as 26-axle truck-and-trailer rigs hauling the generators creep along at about 3 mph.
Overhead utility wires will have to be moved, temporary bridge bypasses will have to be built and traffic will have to be stopped.
AREVA officials recognize the impact of the move on Lancaster County's roads and communities will be massive and so they want to "come talk about what impacts there might be and how we can minimize those impacts," said Denise Woernle, AREVA's manager of corporate communications.
Exact dates and times for the meetings will be announced through the media within the next two weeks, Woernle said.
AmerGen Energy LLC, which operates the TMI nuclear power plant as a subsidiary of Exelon Corp., is refurbishing its Unit 1 reactor, including replacing the unit's two steam generators, at a cost of $280 million.
AmerGen has contracted AREVA to build the generators at the company's plant in France. They will be transported via ship across the Atlantic Ocean and up the Chesapeake Bay to Port Deposit.
From there, the generators are expected to be loaded onto special truck-and-trailer rigs for the overland trek to TMI.
The move by truck is supposed to begin in August or September.
Woernle declined Tuesday to reveal the exact route the generators will take, citing security concerns. He also said parts of the route could still change.
"We are not going to reveal the final route until we have all of our permits in place, which should be about 30 days before" the move begins, she said.
In Pennsylvania, AREVA needs permits from PennDOT and the state Department of Environmental Protection.
A PennDOT source said engineers working for AREVA met with transportation officials last week to provide an overview of the plans to move the generators, which included the expected route.
Multiple sources have said the generators are expected to enter Lancaster County on Route 272 and travel north to the Willow Street area.
Then they will head west on a route that has not yet been revealed to Route 441, south of Columbia.
Norm Meiskey, Columbia's borough manager said, company officials have told him the generators will be moved north on Front Street to Bridge Street, then east on Bridge to North Third Street, which is Route 441.
Meiskey confirmed a PennDOT source's report that the Route 441 bridge over Route 30 cannot support the weight of the generators, so a ramp is expected to be built to allow the convoy to drop downhill from North Third Street to Route 30, bypassing the bridge.
The vehicles will cross all four lanes of Route 30 to another temporary ramp that must be built to provide access back uphill to Route 441.
"The plan is for them to cross Route 30 at a time of day when there will be the least traffic impact," Meiskey said.
Meiskey and other borough officials are in the process of working with AREVA through myriad logistical details, such as traffic control, removal of utility wires and protection of borough infrastructure.
"Obviously, we are concerned about the possible destruction of borough infrastructure — sewer lines, gas lines, water lines — under the weight of these vessels," he said. "There's no doubt, challenges prevail."
Once the generators reach the north side of Route 30 on Route 441, they are expected to follow the road all the way to TMI.
AREVA already has gotten permission from Lancaster County commissioners to build a temporary, compacted-stone road and two stream crossings over Chickies Creek and Donegal Creek in Chickies Rock County Park because the generators are too heavy for the Route 441 bridge over Chickies Creek.
E-mail: preilly@lnpnews.com
