Holtec International has already added up to three years to its schedule for decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, which could increase certain costs for the project by $102 million, according to the commonwealth Attorney General’s Office.
The figures are based on a presentation Holtec gave last month to a local advisory panel for the decommissioning project, attorneys wrote in a Dec. 13 filing with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The commonwealth cited the presentation in making the case for permission to update a petition filed in February to intervene in the NC license transfer proceeding for the retired nuclear power plant.
Transfer of reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses was necessary for power company Entergy to sell the single-reactor plant on Cape Cod to Holtec International. Agency staff gave its approval in August, and the deal was quickly completed.
The New Jersey-based energy technology specialist now has full responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent-fuel management at Pilgrim. It also owns the plant decommissioning trust to pay for that work, and provide a source of profit when the work is completed.
Holtec’s Nov. 14 presentation shows decommissioning operations primarily beginning in 2020. Site restoration would end at the tail end of 2027, the presentation says. Afterward, the site license would be limited to the spent-fuel storage pad.
In documents submitted to the federal regulator in November 2018, Holtec laid out a five-and-a-half-year schedule for completing that work, according to the latest Massachusetts filing. The new presentation pushes that to the right by two-and-a-half to three years, extending the annual $34 million cost for project management and overhead to add $85 million to $102 million in spending, it says.
The NRC on Monday declined to comment on the new motion from Massachusetts. Holtec did not respond to a query by deadline.
The NRC has yet to rule on petitions from Massachusetts and the local advocacy group Pilgrim Watch for hearings on the license transfer. The commission itself could still rescind the August staff approval.
The Attorney General’s Office has also petitioned a federal court to freeze the license transfer.
