Holtec International owes the feds another $50,000 stemming from security-related violations at a New Jersey nuclear plant under decommissioning, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced this week.
According to a Wednesday press release from the agency, Holtec, which is dismantling Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, will undertake “a series of corrective actions” designed to address this newest set of violations. After that program has been implemented, the commission will issue the $50,000 fine — a reduction from the base penalty of $150,000, the press release said.
“This agreement will result in a number of significant actions that can be expected to improve the security programs not only at Oyster Creek but also at the other nuclear plants being decommissioned by HDI,” NRC Region I Deputy Administrator Raymond Lorson said in the release.
The fine stems from a 2020 NRC investigation into a former security superintendent and armorer at Oyster Creek. NRC determined that the armorer “deliberately failed” to perform required firearms maintenance and falsified records related to the maintenance that were subsequently submitted to the commission. The agency alerted Holtec to the violations in a July 28 letter.
“We have taken steps to address the concerns and overall security performance at Oyster Creek and shared those learnings with our fleet to prevent a reoccurrence,” a Holtec spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor in an emailed statement Wednesday. “The NRC has determined that the overall security program at the plant remains effective. We take these issues very seriously and reviewed and acted on the NRC’s violation findings.”
Meanwhile, Holtec is also on the hook for another $150,000 penalty related to a separate set of unspecified security violations at Oyster Creek. NRC announced that fine in December, but would not disclose the specifics of Holtec’s misconduct, citing security reasons. Holtec has agreed to pay.
Holtec purchased the Forked River, N.J., Oyster Creek from Exelon in 2019. The company has said that it expects decommissioning work at the site to wrap up by 2025 or so.
