The interstate agency overseeing the Susquehanna River basin plans to review water usage at Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant after an environmental watchdog alleged that the site was violating the law, the agency’s executive director said this week.
Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) chief Andrew Dehoff told RadWaste Monitor in an email Wednesday that his organization is in contact with Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (TMI) licensee Exelon about water usage at the plant.
The commission is not communicating with the EnergySolutions subsidiary slated to decommission the site’s Unit 2 reactor, TMI-2 Solutions, since Exelon “is currently the holder of SRBC approval to withdraw and consume water at the site,” Dehoff said.
Water usage at the plant is “expected to continue to exceed commission regulatory thresholds,” Dehoff said in an email Tuesday, but he noted that levels of consumption are lower since TMI is no longer generating power. Regardless, the commission plans to conduct a review of all water usage “based on reasonable and foreseeable need at the facility,” Dehoff said.
Exelon has until May 26 to respond to the commission.
Dehoff told RadWaste Monitor in an email Feb. 17 that his agency only had jurisdiction over water usage at TMI, but that it was “critical” that the plant had proper licensing with all agencies.
Last month, environmental watchdog Three Mile Island Alert said TMI-2 Solutions violated the Clean Water Act by not getting proper certification from state authorities that would allow them to ignore water quality rules before purchasing the plant in January.
Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 reactor shut down in 1979 after a partial core meltdown. EnergySolutions announced their plans to purchase the plant from Exelon and the FirstEnergy companies for decommissioning in 2019.
