The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed off on the transfer of the license for the retired Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida, a key step toward its planned decommissioning within seven years.
The reactor license now passes from property owner Duke Energy to decommissioning contractor ADP CR3 – a subsidiary of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners LLC, which is itself a joint venture of environmental solutions specialist NorthStar Group Services and the U.S. branch of French nuclear company Orano (Orano USA).
The companies are still waiting on approval from the Florida Public Service Commission for Duke’s contract with ADP. The review is “ongoing,” but there is no known schedule for a decision, Duke spokeswoman Heather Danenhower said Wednesday.
Accelerated Decommissioning Partners was formed in 2017. Its owners are aiming for a slice of the pie in an increasingly popular business model for decommissioning nuclear power plants – buying the property outright from the owner-operator, assuming responsibility for all cleanup and spent fuel management, and ownership of the trust fund that pays for the work.
The Crystal River job is ADP’s first contract, but it does not follow the planned business model. Instead, the joint venture is being paid $540 million under contract while Duke Energy retains ownership of the facility and property, as well as the decommissioning trust that held $734 million at the end of 2019. The acquisition model did not work in this case as Crystal River stands on a 5,100-acre energy production complex owned by Duke, which also wanted to keep the decommissioning trust.
However, ADP CR3 will take ownership of the plant’s independent spent fuel storage installation, operating it until Crystal River’s radioactive used fuel can be removed from the property. Citing security concerns, Duke has declined to say how much spent fuel is stored on-site in dry casks.
Duke Energy permanently retired the then-36-year-old Citrus County plant in 2013 rather than trying to repair its damaged containment building. Two years later it placed the reactor into SAFSTOR mode, under which final decommissioning can be delayed for up to six decades while radiation levels drop and funding levels grow. The Charlotte, N.C.-based power company hired Accelerated Decommissioning Partners in May 2019 to expedite the process.
Decommissioning is scheduled to be completed by 2027, after which radioactivity levels must be reduced to the point at which the NRC license can be terminated and the property opened for other use.
Planning and engineering will begin this year, Danenhower said by email. Operations from 2021 to 2026 would involve removal of the reactor vessel, steam generators, and other radioactive and nonradioactive equipment. Nearly all structures would be demolished from 2026 to 2027, leaving only the spent-fuel pad.
“Property surrounding the dry cask storage facility would become available to Duke Energy to reuse for other Duke Energy purposes,” Danenhower said by email.” The company has not yet determined how it might repurpose the property but has no plans to sell it.”
NorthStar will also take down two Duke coal-fueled power units at Crystal River.
Orano spokesman Curtis Roberts said there were no announcements regarding pending business opportunities for Accelerated Decommissioning Partners.
