The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on July 22 issued a regulatory exemption allowing Entergy Nuclear Operations to use money in the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s decommissioning trust fund for spent fuel management and site restorations activities.
Entergy requested the exemption in November 2018 for the Massachusetts facility. On July 1, the NRC staff issued an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact for Entergy’s application for the request. The final order was posted Monday to the agency website.
Without an exemption from the NRC, the trusts can only be used for operations that meet the regulatory definition of decommissioning: removing a facility safely from service, with residual radioactivity sufficiently reduced to allow for license termination and either restricted or unrestricted use of the property.
Entergy had intended to put Pilgrim into SAFSTOR mode upon closure, under which final decommissioning can be delayed for up to six decades. The single-reactor power plant on Cape Cod closed on May 31.
By the time of the exemption application, Entergy had announced plans to sell the facility to Holtec International for expedited decommissioning that would be completed within eight years. The companies hope to complete the deal this year, presuming NRC approval of their request to transfer Pilgrim’s operations and spent fuel storage licenses from Entergy to Holtec. Holtec would own the decommissioning trust once the sale is complete, and in the license transfer application filed a separate request for exemption on its use.
The NRC noted that the Pilgrim decommissioning trust fund had $1.05 billion as of Oct. 31, 2018. Entergy estimated that SAFTOR decommissioning would cost nearly $1.19 billion and the long-term spent fuel management at $420 million.
“The NRC staff confirmed that the current funds in the DTF and projected earnings provide reasonable assurance of adequate funding to complete all NRC-required radiological decommissioning activities, and also to pay for spent fuel management and site restoration activities,” according to the order.
