The commonwealth of Massachusetts’ court challenge to the transfer of the federal license for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is being dismissed with prejudice, which would prevent it from being refiled.
The parties to the petition for review filed the dismissal agreement on June 30 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. They are the commonwealth of Massachusetts, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and facility owner Holtec International.
The filing arrived about two weeks after the announcement of a settlement agreement in which Massachusetts withdrew its objections to Holtec’s 2019 acquisition of the retired single-reactor plant on Cape Cod from power company Entergy.
The agreement is intended to address the commonwealth government’s concerns about the sale, including ensuring Holtec retains sufficient funds to complete decommissioning of the facility. Among the terms: Holtec cannot allow the trust fund that will pay for decommissioning to dip below $193.3 million for most of the cleanup job; it would have 30 days to replenish the account if that happens.
Entergy and Holtec in November 2018 applied for the transfer of the NRC operations and spent-fuel storage licenses for Pilgrim, with approval necessary for the deal to proceed. The following February, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and local advocacy group Pilgrim Watch petitioned the agency for approval to intervene in the licensing proceeding. The commission signed off on the license transfers in August 2019 without ruling on the intervention petitions, and the sale concluded within days. Holtec has since begun decommissioning the facility, with work scheduled to wrap up in 2027.
The commonwealth then took the case to the D.C. Circuit, asking the court to force the NRC to undo the license transfer order and other measures that allowed the sale to proceed.
The commission was scheduled on June 4 to finally rule on the petitions from Massachusetts and Pilgrim Watch, but held off to allow time for settlement talks to conclude. Massachusetts subsequently withdrew its contentions.
Pilgrim Watch is not a party to the settlement, and has not dropped its petition for a hearing.
