Energy Northwest has renegotiated its 1992 settlement with General Electric and will receive a $30 million cash payment.

The consortium of public utilities that operates the nuclear power plant north of Richland sued General Electric for $1.16 billion in 1985, accusing the company of concealing flaws in the containment system it sold to what was then known as the Washington Public Power Supply System.

Those flaws delayed Plant No. 2 completion by 18 months, costing WPPSS millions in lost power sales.

The $135 million settlement reached in 1992 called for General Electric to pay for equipment used to increase the plant's power output.

It also credited the supply system's account with $63 million for future services.

But the power plant operator hasn't used much of that credit and renegotiated the cash settlement.

Some credit still remains and could be used to help Energy Northwest get a 20-year extension on the plant's operating license or to increase its output even further.

The $30 million will be used to upgrade the system that purifies water run through the reactor, said Energy Northwest spokesman John Britton.