Nuclear services firm EnergySolutions said Tuesday it has completed physical decommissioning of the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) in Wisconsin.
That covers full remediation and extraction of radioactive materials in line with the license termination plan approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to a press release from the Salt Lake City-based company.
The nuclear power plant was built in 1967 and operated until 1987. Owner Dairyland Power Cooperative transferred the federal license for the facility to an EnergySolutions subsidiary for decommissioning, which began in June 2016. The license will now be transferred back to Dairyland.
“This is the second decommissioning project we have completed this year and it has been a great opportunity to showcase our talented workforce and abilities to safely decommission a nuclear power plant,” EnergySolutions President and CEO Ken Robuck said in the release. “I want to thank our customer, Dairyland Power, for the strong working relationship throughout the course of the project. As with every decommissioning project there are unique challenges and La Crosse was no different, but our best practices and lessons learned from other projects proved valuable in executing this project safely on schedule and budget.”
In April, EnergySolutions finished decommissioning for the U.S. Energy Department of the Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor in Arkansas. It expects next spring to complete decommissioning of the Zion nuclear power plant in Illinois. The company is also gearing up to decommission the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California, in partnership with AECOM, and has a contract with FirstEnergy Corp. to acquire reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island power plant in Pennsylvania for decommissioning.
