The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Exelon’s request for an exemption to federal regulations so the power company can use part of the decommissioning trust for its Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station for related but otherwise prohibited cleanup operations.
However, the exemptions will be effective only so long as Exelon owns the single-reactor plant in Lacey Township, N.J., which closed on Sept. 17. The company has applied for NRC approval to transfer the license to New Jersey-based energy technology company Holtec International, which would take ownership of the facility and decommissioning trust, along with all responsibility for cleanup and spent fuel management.
Federal regulations restrict use of nuclear power plants’ trust funds to work covered by a specific definition of decommissioning – removing the site from service and reducing radioactivity so the property can be released for separate use and the license terminated. Exelon, though, wants to use some portion of its trust for irradiated fuel management and site restoration. It also sought exemption from the requirement to notify the NRC before withdrawing funds from the trust.
In its March application, Exelon provided data showing that the trust balance of $979 million as of Dec. 31, 2017, would, assuming growth over time, be enough to cover both the exempted work and decommissioning.
Agency staff concurred and also determined the exemptions “will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety, and are consistent with the common defense and security,” according to the order published Oct. 25 in the Federal Register.
Exelon requested the exemptions when it planned to delay decommissioning and site restoration for several decades, completing the work in 2080. Holtec, though, would move quickly to cleanup if it acquires the facility, saying it could complete decommissioning by 2027. The companies are aiming for an NRC ruling in 2019. If it does become the license holder, Holtec would need its own exemptions– and an application is anticipated in November, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday.
