The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is beginning the formal review of the license transfer application for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey from owner Exelon to planned owner Holtec International.
The regulator informed Exelon by email Thursday that it had completed the acceptance review of the Aug. 31 application. The document was posted to the NRC website on Friday.
“The NRC staff has reviewed your application and concluded that it does provide technical information in sufficient detail to enable the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review and make an independent assessment regarding the acceptability of the proposed license transfer application in terms of regulatory requirements and the protection of public health and safety and the environment,” according to the message, sent by John Lamb, a senior project manager in the agency’s Operating Reactor Licensing Division, to Exelon licensing manager David Helker.
Exelon on Sept. 17 retired the 49-year-old boiling-water reactor in Lacey Township. It hopes by next year to receive regulatory approval from the NRC and then sell the plant to Holtec, which would assume responsibility for decommissioning, spent fuel management, and site restoration. The Camden, N.J., energy technology company says it can complete the bulk of that work by 2027, in collaboration with Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin.
The transfer application covers the licenses for both the reactor and Oyster Creek’s independent spent fuel storage installation, Lamb wrote. Oyster Creek Environmental Protection LLC, a Holtec subsidiary, would become the licensed owner if the NRC approves the transfer; Holtec Decommissioning International would be the licensed operator.
Lamb said the agency would strive to meet the request from Holtec and Exelon to complete the technical review by May 1, 2019. Staff believes the job will take roughly 630 hours.
Holtec also hopes to acquire two nuclear power plants operated by Entergy, Pilgrim in Massachusetts and Palisades in Michigan.
