A decommissioning company planning to take over operations at a Wisconsin nuclear power plant may have to submit its first evidence briefing to the state agency reviewing the transaction in December, according to a draft schedule in a recent notice from the panel.
Dec. 1 could be the deadline for an EnergySolutions subsidiary company and Dominion Energy to submit its argument for the sale of Kewaunee Power Station, according to the notice published by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (WPSC) on Monday.
However, a spokesperson for WPSC told Weapons Complex Morning Briefing via email Wednesday that the parties involved in the sale “couldn’t come to an agreement” on a schedule. A Nov. 3 pre-hearing conference, announced in the Monday notice, will be used to “discuss the schedule for moving [the] docket forward,” the spokesperson said.
The meeting will begin at 1:00 p.m. Central time (2:00 p.m. Eastern) and the interested public can chime in via Zoom or phone, the notice said.
Dominion agreed to sell the Carlton, Wis. plant to EnergySolutions in May, but WPSC needs to give the transaction their seal of approval before it can be finalized.
According to the schedule in Monday’s notice, New York-based NorthStar may need to offer its own evidence by Jan. 17. The decommissioning company was allowed to intervene in proceedings in a Sep. 7 order from WPSC Judge Michael Newmark. NorthStar has said that it could decommission Kewaunee for around $500 million, a lower price point than EnergySolutions’ projected $724 million.
WPSC could hold a closed-door hearing with all of the parties Feb. 16, the notice said. A public hearing date has yet to be set.
This as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is processing a decommissioning quality assurance application from EnergySolutions, according to a letter from NRC dated Oct. 18. The agency is also accepting public comments on its review of the sale until Nov. 21.
If WPSC approves the Kewaunee sale, EnergySolutions would have a total of four decommissioning projects under its belt. The Salt Lake City-based company is currently dismantling Three Mile Island Unit 2 in Pennsylvania, the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California and Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun plant.
