The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said last week it could not answer a list of questions and concerns raised by three members of Massachusetts’ delegation to Congress regarding the license transfer application for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
“Because the application is the subject of a current adjudication, the Commission must remain impartial during the pendency of the proceeding. Due to the nature of the Commission’s adjudicatory role, I trust that you will understand that it would be inappropriate at this time for the Chairman to discuss or comment on issues involved in this matter,” Annette Vietti-Cook, NRC secretary of the commission, wrote in a March 7 letter to Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Bill Keating (all D-Mass.).
Entergy plans to shut down the single-reactor plant on Cape Cod by June 1. In November, the power company and energy technology specialist Holtec International filed their license transfer application with the NRC. They hope to seal the sale by the end of 2019, at which point Holtec would own Pilgrim’s decommissioning trust fund and all responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management on the property.
The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the nongovernmental Pilgrim Watch have petitioned to intervene in the license transfer proceeding. In her letter, Vietti-Cook noted that the issues raised by the petitioners are similar to those addressed in the three lawmakers’ March 4 letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki.
Among their concerns, the Congress members asked Svinicki for assurance that the decommissioning trust would be sufficient to cover the anticipated $1.134 billion price tag for cleanup work, “or, if not, that the licensee(s) will be held solely financially responsible by the NRC.”
Among the six specific questions that went unanswered: What regulatory or statutory measures are in place to ensure the Pilgrim licensee or licensees cover all decommissioning costs beyond the amount in the trust; and whether the licensees will be required to refresh the plants’ environmental impact statements to address climate change or other factors from the last 10 years.
