THATS THE WAY

Dear Mr. Dodd,

I write in regard to a case of extortion-in-progress.

Specifically, The New York State Legislature is trying to force the sale of Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant to them for $1.00, and in turn, Long Island Lighting is seeking tax relief from the federal government, thereby passing a $5.5 billion bill on to you and me. Don't let them do it!

LILCO applied for a license to build the Shoreham plant in the same year that Northeast Utilities applied to build Millstone Unit II. Whereas Millstone Unit II has been in operation for a decade, Litigious Long Islanders have blocked development of Shoreham at every step.

Shoreham's price tag is 11 times Millstone's. Virtually all of the $5.5 billion price tag is due to debt service caused by a decade or harassment. Laws are such that no construction funds may come from revenues from existing plants.

In my view, we should let the Long Islanders stew in their own juice. The extreme costs are their making and should be borne by them.

On a related issue, I seriously hope that the New Mexican citizens will vote to close the huge coal-burning plant in Farming-ton whose electricity goes primarily to Southern California whose profligate irrationality has caused them to dose Rancho-Seco.

Howard Hayden, Department of Physics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-3046.