-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, Hw38l81HKkgSHhFwVoYpzwya+gf61VYHQhPp9lWjS258H2oLdpRO6Oi8tW1ZOW9Z 0EJMACIaORgoEwaAOuz3pA== 0000053456-95-000021.txt : 19951023 0000053456-95-000021.hdr.sgml : 19951023 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0000053456-95-000021 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: 8-K PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 3 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 19951017 ITEM INFORMATION: Other events ITEM INFORMATION: Resignations of registrant's directors FILED AS OF DATE: 19951020 SROS: NONE FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT CO CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0000053456 STANDARD INDUSTRIAL CLASSIFICATION: ELECTRIC SERVICES [4911] IRS NUMBER: 210485010 STATE OF INCORPORATION: NJ FISCAL YEAR END: 1231 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: 8-K SEC ACT: 1934 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 001-03141 FILM NUMBER: 95582975 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: 300 MADISON AVE CITY: MORRISTOWN STATE: NJ ZIP: 079621911 BUSINESS PHONE: 2014558200 8-K 1 JCP&L 8-K REPORT SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549 ___________________ FORM 8-K PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 Date of Report (date of earliest event reported): October 17, 1995 JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY (Exact name of registrant as specified in charter) New Jersey 1-3141 21-0485010 (State of (Commission (IRS Employer Incorporation) File Number) Identification No.) 300 Madison Avenue, Morristown, NJ 07960-1911 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code) Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (201) 455- 8200 ITEM 5. OTHER EVENTS As previously reported, as a result of the 1979 accident at Unit No.2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI-2) and its aftermath, individual claims for alleged personal injury (including claims for punitive damages), which are material in amount, have been asserted against the Corporation and its Subsidiaries. Approximately 2,100 of such claims are pending in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. At the time of the accident, as provided for in the Price-Anderson Act (which, among other things, provides liability limitations for accidents involving commercial nuclear reactors), the Subsidiaries had (i) primary financial protection in the form of insurance policies with groups of insurance companies providing an aggregate of $140 million of primary coverage, (ii) secondary financial protection in the form of private liability insurance under an industry retrospective rating plan providing for up to an aggregate of $335 million in premium charges under such plan and (iii) an indemnity agreement with the NRC for up to an aggregate of $85 million, bringing the total primary, secondary and tertiary financial protection up to an aggregate of $560 million. Under the secondary level, the Subsidiaries are subject to a retrospective premium charge on a pro rata basis, which in the aggregate will not exceed $15 million, as their portion of this level of financial protection. In March 1994, the defendants in the TMI-2 litigation and the insurers agreed that the insurers would withdraw their reservation of rights with respect to any award of punitive damages. 1 On October 17, 1995, the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled that the federal Price-Anderson Act provides coverage under its primary and secondary levels for punitive as well as compensatory damages, but that punitive damages could not be recovered against the Federal Government which, as described above, provides the third level of financial protection. In so doing, the Court referred to the "finite fund" to which plaintiffs must resort to get compensatory as well as punitive damages. The Court of Appeals, in a related action, also found that the standard of care owed by the defendants to a plaintiff was determined by the specific level of radiation which was released into the environment, as measured at the site boundary, rather than as measured (as the GPU defendants proposed) at the specific site where the plaintiff was located at the time of the accident. The Court also held, however, that each plaintiff still must demonstrate exposure to radiation released during the TMI accident and that such exposure had resulted in their injuries. The GPU defendants believe that any liability to which they might be subject by reason of the TMI-2 accident and these Third Circuit decisions will not exceed the sum of their primary and secondary financial protection under the Price-Anderson Act. A trial of ten allegedly representative cases is scheduled to begin in June 1996. A copy of a related news release is annexed as an exhibit hereto. ITEM 6. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, PRO FORMA FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND EXHIBITS (c) Exhibits 2 1. GPU News Release, dated October 17, 1995 3 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 THEREUNTO DULY AUTHORIZED. JERSEY CENTRAL POWER & LIGHT COMPANY By:______________________________ T. G. Howson, Vice President and Treasurer Date: October 20, 1995 EX-99 2 EXHIBIT INDEX EXHIBIT TO BE FILED BY EDGAR Exhibit: 1. GPU News Release, dated October 17, 1995 EX-99 3 EXHIBIT 1 EXHIBIT 1 (GPU NEWS RELEASE LETTERHEAD) Gordon Tomb (717) 948-8197 October 17, 1995 Carol Clawson 95-033 (201) 316-7706 IMMEDIATELY APPEALS COURT RULES THAT TMI-2 PLAINTIFFS MAY SEEK PUNITIVE DAMAGES PARSIPPANY, N.J., October 17, 1995 -- General Public Utilities Corporation (NYSE:GPU) announced today that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled that plaintiffs who claim they were injured as a result of the 1979 accident at Unit No. 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station may seek punitive damages. In so doing, the Court referred to the "finite fund" to which plaintiffs must resort to get compensatory as well as punitive damages. Pursuant to the Federal Price-Anderson Act, primary financial protection is provided in the form of insurance policies with a group of insurance companies, and secondary financial protection in the form of private liability insurance under an industry retrospective rating plan. The Court said that a third layer provided by the Federal government could not be used to pay punitive damage awards. The GPU defendants believe that any liability to which they might be subject by reason of the TMI-2 accident and the Third Circuit decisions will not exceed the sum of their insurance and secondary protection under the Price-Anderson Act. In a related action, the Court of Appeals also found that the standard of care owed by the defendants to the plaintiffs was determined by the specific level of radiation permitted by Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations to be released into the environment, as measured at the site boundary. The plaintiffs had argued that an "as low as reasonably achievable" standard was proper. Because those levels were exceeded, plaintiffs' remaining burden is to show that the injuries they claim to have suffered were caused by those emissions. The trial of the first 10 of the 2,100 pending claims has been scheduled for 1996. TMI-2 is owned by GPU's three public utility subsidiaries. ### -----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----