The company looking for state approval to purchase a Wisconsin nuclear power plant for decommissioning sought Wednesday to counter an advocacy group’s last-minute push for an independent technical review of the transaction, new filings show.
EnergySolutions told the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC) in a filing Wednesday that commissioners should ignore evidence submitted last week by the Citizens’ Utility Board (CUB) suggesting that a recent groundwater contamination issue at the company’s Clive, Utah, low-level radioactive waste disposal site might cause cost overruns during Kewaunee Power Station’s decommissioning.
CUB on May 6 submitted to WPSC an April 29 Nuclear Regulatory Commission incident notification about groundwater contamination at EnergySolutions’ low-level waste site. Regulatory strategist Steve Kihm said in the filing that the contamination issue presents “a new risk” in the Kewaunee sale which could “affect the ultimate transfer of excess funds to Wisconsin utility consumers.” Site remediation costs in Utah could impose financial consequences on EnergySolutions or affect projected decommissioning costs at Kewaunee, Kihm argued.
The alleged financial risks associated with the Utah site contamination also point to the need for an “unbiased technical review” of the plant’s sale, Kihm said. “ If customer interests are to be protected, a highly skilled independent consultant could provide the information the Commission needs.”
However, EnergySolutions countered Wednesday that the Utah contamination issue is “irrelevant to any issue identified for Commission determination in this proceeding and will not aid in the Commission’s determination of those issues.”
“The potential cost of remediating the site in Utah, if any, is not yet known, but regardless of what that cost might be, it is not germane to the issues in this docket, including and especially whether EnergySolutions has sufficient financial resources to decommission [Kewaunee],” the company said.
EnergySolutions’ financial ability to decommission Kewaunee has come under attack throughout WPSC’s review process. New York-based decommissioning company NorthStar, allowed to intervene on proceedings back in December, has repeatedly argued that it could do the job for around $500 million, a markedly lower price point than EnergySolutions’ quoted $724 million.
All this comes as WPSC could be just days away from making a final decision about whether to approve the Carlton, Wisc., plant’s sale to EnergySolutions from Dominion Energy. A commission spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor April 4 that the regulator was scheduled to discuss the transaction Thursday, but as of Thursday it had yet to appear on WPSC’s meeting agenda.
Although EnergySolutions and Dominion agreed to Kewaunee’s terms of sale in May 2021, WPSC must approve the transaction before it can be finalized. NRC approved the sale March 31.
