Holtec International said Friday it will complete its acquisition of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts “as soon as practicable,” after receiving the necessary authorization from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The federal agency on Aug. 22 approved the transfer of Pilgrim’s operational and spent fuel storage licenses from plant owner Entergy to Holtec.
“In reviewing the license transfer application, the NRC staff considered the Holtec and [Holtec Decommissioning International] technical and financial qualifications, the adequacy of Pilgrim’s decommissioning trust funds to complete the radiological decommissioning of the plant, and the adequacy of plans to manage the onsite storage of spent nuclear fuel until it can be removed for storage or disposal elsewhere,” according to an NRC press release Friday. “The staff concluded that Holtec and HDI met the regulatory, legal, technical and financial requirements necessary to qualify as licensees.”
In 2018, the New Jersey energy technology provider announced plans to buy the single-reactor power plant on Cape Cod, which closed on May 31 of this year. The companies filed their license transfer application last November. Once the deal is complete, Holtec will assume all responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management on the property. It says it can complete decommissioning within eight years, after which it would keep a portion of the site’s decommissioning trust fund as profit.
Officials and advocacy groups in Massachusetts have raised concerns about the deal, including whether Holtec will have enough money to complete decommissioning. The commonwealth, which has been in talks with the companies to settle its concerns, has said it will file a request with the NRC for a stay on the license-transfer order.
“The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is abdicating any responsibility for protecting public health and safety with its rushed and uninformed license transfer for the Pilgrim nuclear power plant,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a press release. “The opaque process that disregarded local resident and state input reflects the Commission’s choice to prioritize industry timelines over due diligence and transparency. Holtec’s math on how it will pay for decommissioning does not add up.”
Holtec plans to buy several nuclear power plants for decommissioning. It has completed its acquisition of Exelon’s shuttered Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, with deals pending for Entergy’s still-operational Palisades Power Plant in Michigan and Indian Point Energy Center in New York state.
