The Nuclear Regulatory Commission won’t reverse its decision to deny requests for a public hearing on the sale of Indian Point Energy, the agency’s chairman told the leader of the U.S. Senate recently.
NRC Chair Christopher Hanson “does not have the authority to unilaterally modify” the full commission’s ruling, he wrote in a March 25 letter to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). Schumer sent a letter to Hanson Feb. 22 asking him to walk back the agency’s refusal to hold a public hearing on the Buchanan, N.Y. power plant’s sale from Entergy to Holtec International for decommissioning.
“I recognize your disappointment with the decision but want to assure you that we share the same objective of ensuring there is adequate funding for the site to be fully cleaned for future reuse,” Hanson told Schumer.
New York politicians have long sought more public debate about the impending transfer at Indian Point.
An ongoing suit against NRC filed January by New York state attorney general Letitia James challenges the Indian Point license transfer. One of James’s main issues — a sentiment Schumer shared — is that the agency shouldn’t have granted Holtec permission to use a $2.1 billion Indian Point decommissioning trust fund for other activities like spent fuel management and site remediation.
Holtec is set to take over at Indian Point this month, as operations wind down at the plant’s Unit 3 reactor. It’s the last of the site’s reactors to shut down — Unit 2 went dark late last year and Unit 1 shuttered back in 1974.
