of accomplishing the purposes of the Saline Water Act. It further provides that such recommendation ** * be accompanied by a report on the size, location, and cost of the proposed plant and the engineering and economic details with respect thereto report, together with its appendixes, is presented in compliance with the above requirement. This The recommended participation in the MWD conversion plant by the Department of the Interior is in the form of a purchase of desalting technology and operating experience for the multistage flash distillation process. This conversion process is judged most advanced for application in settings of large-scale needs for water supply augmentation and development, and is particularly suitable for application in combination with large-scale power generating facilities. By joining in an effective partnership with public and investorowned water and power utilities, significant advantages-not otherwise obtainable-will accrue to this important phase of the Government's desalting program. For example, it will not be necessary for the Office of Saline Water to seek funds for all-Federal construction of a large plant in the unavoidable effort to prove out the engineering feasibility and economics of the multistage flash distillation process. A ready market exists for the products of the MWD plant. Possible difficulties associated with the future disposal of a Governmentowned plant are avoided. The plant is fitted into a realistic water need situation and thus will serve in the best possible way to meet the objective of demonstrating the technical and economic feasibility of this application and to gain public acceptance and confidence in desalting as a dependable source of water supply. The following presents a detailed discussion of the basis for OSW participation, a history of the MWD project, and engineering and economic details of the proposed dual-purpose plant. It further includes a description of present plans for the project, together with a discussion of the proposed extent of Federal participation and funding, and of general provisions expected to form the basis of an agreement between the Government and the Metropolitan Water District. On August 9, 1966, the MWD board of directors passed and approved a resolution authorizing the district's participation in the project. The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, acting in joint partnership with a group of public and private electric utilities, is planning to build and operate a combination desalting and nuclear power generating plant. The facility is designed to produce 150 million gallons of fresh water daily from the Pacific Ocean and to generate approximately 1,500 megawatts of electrical power. It is to be constructed at a suitable site along the coastline of Orange County, Calif. A comprehensive technical and economic study conducted by Bechtel Corp. and jointly sponsored by the Metropolitan Water District, the U.S. Department of the Interior's Office of Saline Water, and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, concluded that the project was technically and economically feasible. Project facilities would consist of three 50 million gallons per day multistage flash evaporator trains comprising the 150 million gallons per day desalting plant, two nuclear reactors driving two condensing turbines and a back-pressure turbine, and necessary ancillary facilities. The primary site under consideration is a 43-acre artificial island to be constructed 3,500 feet offshore. Ancillary structures at this site would include a causeway and a pipeline to convey desalted water to the district's Robert B. Diemer Filtration Plant for blending and delivery into the existing distribution systems. The group of participating electric utilites is comprised of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the Southern California Edison Co., and the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Under proposals advanced by this group, the power utilities would finance, own, and operate the two reactors and condensing turbines, and the district would finance, own, and operate the desalting plant and back-pressure turbine. The reactor units are designed to supply sufficient capacity for the power requirements of the utilities as well as the steam and power requirements of the district. Under the desalting program plan of the Office of Saline Water, as presented to the Congress and approved by the President on August 11, 1965, construction of a large prototype sea water conversion plant was included as a necessary step of the advanced engineering development program carried forward under the Federal effort to achieve low-cost desalting for large-scale applications. Under the provisions of Public Law 87-295 (75 Stat. 628) the Secretary of the Interior is directed to recommend to the Congress the construction, or participation in the construction and operation, of any conversion plant which he determines has great promise of accomplishing the purposes of the Saline Water Act. After examinations of alternative approaches, including all-Federal financing and construction of a large prototype plant, the Secretary has determined that Federal participation in the non-Federal MWD project constitutes the least-cost path toward timely acquisition of the technology needed to achieve the objectives of this important developmental phase of the desalting program. The multistage flash distillation process is the desalting process most advanced for use in large sea water conversion plants and has been selected for use in the MWD dual-purpose plant. The proposed Federal participation is in the form of a purchase of technology and operating experience and is based on the value of information and data expected to be gained through construction and operation of the MWD project. Two agencies of the Federal Government would share in this knowledge to the benefit of their respective program goals. The greatest share would accrue to the program of the Office of Saline Water, since the MWD project would be the first dual-purpose desalting application of its kind and size in the world. Significant additional benefits would accrue to the Atomic Energy Commission in its efforts to develop advanced nuclear steam supply systems for desalting applications. Participation in the MWD project by both agencies would not exceed $72.2 million. Of this total amount, the Department of the Interior proposes to contribute a maximum of $57.2 million; the Atomic Energy Commission proposes to contribute the remaining $15 million. The Atomic Energy Commission has submitted a separate request for congressional authorization of its participation, together with pertinent supporting material. The total proposed OSW participation of $57.2 million is comprised of contributions of $44.7 million toward capital costs of the project, $11.5 million toward annually recurring operation and maintenance costs, and a maximum of $1 million toward participation in possible cost increases associated with significant changes in design or manufacturing techniques necessitating design and fabrication changes. The Metropolitan Water District plans to construct the desalting plant in two stages; the first stage would involve construction of an initial 50 million gallons per day evaporator train, with ancillary facilities such as the conveyance system built to accommodate the output of the full-size plant. The second stage would involve construction of two additional 50 million gallons per day evaporator trains, together with the remaining ancillar structures needed for a complete 150 million gallons per day desalting plant. While a major share of desalting technology sought by OSW can be obtained with the construction and operation of a single 50 million gallons per day evaporator train, significant additional benefits accrue under the stage approach leading to the full-size plant which could not be obtained from a single 50 million gallons per day plant. Added benefits associated with the staging approach include broader opportunity and greater flexibility in conducting experimental operations, valuable data on interface problems between turbines and evaporators, etc.; not least, moreover, staging will permit analysis of data from the initial phase to develop better pricing, fabrication and construction techniques for application in the second phase, resulting either in cost savings or improved operation, or both. Accordingly, the proposed OSW contribution will be divided into two parts, corresponding to the value of the technology to be gained during the respective construction phases and specified years of initial operation. The capital cost contribution toward the design and construction of the first 50 million gallons per day evaporator train will be $35.7 million, distributed according to percentages of completion of construction equipment purchased. Prior to the start of construction of the additional 100 million gallons per day plant phase, OSW will contribute an additional $9 million toward capital costs. The Office of Saline Water would reserve the right to make available these capital cost contributions in the form of cash, fabricated components, tubing, basic materials, or any combination of these. In the event that significant changes in design or manufacturing techniques growing out of initial operation of the 50 million gallons per day plant necessitate design and fabrication changes which result in increased costs for the second phase, OSW will share up to 50 percent, but not to exceeding a total of $1 million. All such changes, moreover, must be in the interest of achieving design production rates or decreasing water costs, and will be subject to review of OSW. During the first few years of operation, OSW will also contribute to the operating and maintenance costs of the desalting plant, on the basis of 50 percent of actual O. & M. expenses, not including interest and depreciation. The total OSW participation in these costs, based on operation over the first 4 years of the initial 50 million gallons per day train, and 3 additional years for the full-size 150 million gallons per day plant, will not exceed $11.5 million. The average cost of desalted water to MWD, computed over a 30year period of operation of the 150 million gallons per day plant, is 21.9 cents per 1.000 gallons at the plant boundary, and 27 cents per 1,000 gallons delivered to the Diemer Filtration Plant, or $71.40 and $88 per acre-foot, respectively. It is estimated that the total capital cost of the nuclear fueled power and desalting plant will be $444.3 million. This cost will be shared in the following way: Department of the Interior. Million $45.7 Atomic Energy Commission... 15.0 Metropolitan Water District of Southern California......... 126.7 Utility companies: (1) Department of Water & Power of the City of Los 256.9 Total... 444. 3 In addition, the Department of the Interior will contribute $11.5 million toward operation and maintenance of the desalting plant, making a total contribution from the Department of the Interior of $57.2 million. The contribution of $15 million to the project by the Atomic Energy Commission will be authorized by separate legislation which has been introduced in the Senate by Senator Pastore, S. 3807. A hearing was held on this legislation by the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy on September 14, 1966. EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Hon. HUBERT H. HUMPHREY, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C., September 12, 1966. DEAR MR. PRESIDENT: Enclosed for your consideration is a draft of a bill to provide for the participation of the Department of the Interior in the construction and operation of a large prototype desalting plant, and for other purposes. We recommend that this draft bill be referred to the appropriate committee for consideration, and we recommend that it be enacted. The Government of the United States, represented by the Office of Saline Water, Department of the Interior (OSW), and the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), has executed a memorandum of understanding with the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD) on the principal features of an arrangement providing for certain specified assistance from OSW and AEC in connection with research and development, design, construction, and operation of a large-scale dual-purpose nuclear electric power and sea water conversion plant. The combination plant is to be financed, owned, and operated by MWD and a group of public and private electric utilities (the utilities) serving the southern California area. A separate agreement will be executed by MWD with the utilities based upon the utilities' proposal. The proposed legislation provides a basis for the purchase of valuable advanced technology by OSW participation in the construction and operation of the multimillion-gallon-per-day desalting plant. We have also enclosed, for the files of your committee, a copy of the memorandum of understanding and a report on the proposed project entitled "A Justification of Department of the Interior Participation in the MWD Dual-Purpose Plant." We understand that a separate request for legislation authorizing Atomic Energy Commission participation in this project is being made by that agency. The dual-purpose plant is to be built by MWD with the utilities group, comprised of the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, the Southern California Edison Co., and the San Diego Gas & Electric Co. The installation will be designed to produce 150 million gallons of fresh water per day from the Pacific Ocean, and to generate approximately 1,800 megawatts of electrical power. The proposed project, subject to final firm contracts and necessary approvals by Congress and the involved agencies, provides an early opportunity for the Government to participate with MWD in the development and construction of a dual-purpose plant, the technology of which is important to future planning of both the Department of the Interior and the Atomic Energy Commission. Since 1959, the MWD, a public corporation organized for the purpose of supplying supplemental water to its member agencies for domestic, industrial, and other beneficial uses, has made studies of the feasibility of desalting sea water as a possible new means of implementing future water supply plans. In August 1964, the district entered into a contract with the United States jointly sponsoring an engineering and economic feasibility study for a combination water-desalting and electric power-generating plant. The Department of the Interior, through its Office of Saline Water, and the Atomic Energy Commission contracted on behalf of the U.S. Government. In April 1965, the utilities offered to participate in the proposed dual-purpose plant, indicating their willingness to furnish, own, and operate a two-unit nuclear power plant. This group earlier in the year had appointed a committee of its representatives to work with MWD in developing information on the power aspects. Under the proposal of joint participation, the nuclear reactor units would be designed to have sufficient capacity to supply the power requirements of the utilities as well as the steam and power requirements of the district. The district would own a back-pressure turbine and the desalting plant. This request for authorization is based on the comprehensive yearlong technical and economic study jointly sponsored by MWD, AEC, and OSW. In addition, it provides a prime opportunity effectively to utilize, in a timely fashion the technology developed through basic research and engineering development program sponsored by OSW to develop the best and most economical processes and methods for converting saline water into water suitable for beneficial consumptive purposes. This program has included the engineering research and technical development work to advance processes and plant designs to the point of large and practical scale demonstration. Although a number of conversion processes are being developed to meet specific needs for desalting under widely varied conditions, the multistage flash distillation process selected in the proposed dual-purpose plant is the process most advanced for use in large sea water conversion plants. To achieve the goals set forth in the 1964 report to President Johnson, "Program for Advancing Desalting Technology," which resulted in the enactment of Public Law 89-118 (79 Stat. 509), to expand, extend, and accelerate the saline water conversion program, the importance of developing technology applicable to large-scale sea water conversion has been emphasized. The desalting program plan which was presented and subsequently enacted by the Congress and approved by the President on August 11, 1965, included the possibility |