Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
2/27/2015
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has opened an Atomic Licensing and Safety Board adjudication for Vermont Yankee’s license amendment request to reduce emergency preparedness requirements, according to a notice posted in the Federal Register this week. The state of Vermont had requested a hearing in the adjudication process earlier this month in an effort to stop the license amendments.
According to the state, Vermont Yankee should not reduce emergency planning especially since the NRC has not yet granted an exemption to recognize its decommissioning status. “Entergy’s license amendment request is not ready for review, as the amendment request is predicated upon and assumes approval of an exemption request that has not been ruled upon by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and/or Atomic Safety and Licensing Board,” the state wrote in its petition. Vermont also disagreed with the changes because they “fail to account for all credible emergency scenarios, undermines the effectiveness of the site emergency plan and off-site emergency planning, and poses an increased risk to the health and safety of Vermont citizens in violation of NRC regulatory requirements 10 CFR § 50.54(q)(4) and Appendix E to Part 50,” the state wrote.
Entergy, the site operator, has submitted its Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report for Vermont Yankee, with minimal changes to the plan outlined in its site assessment report the company issued in 2014. The PSDAR estimated the cost of the cleanup at $1.24 billion, with costs associated with terminating the NRC operating license at $817 million, spent fuel management at $368 million, and site restoration at $57 million. Entergy filed an exemption request with the NRC last year to reduce its emergency preparedness requirements to better represent the threats posed by a decommissioning reactor.
State Joins Petition Questioning Entergy Financing
Vermont’s Attorney General Office, meanwhile, has joined a New York and Massachusetts petition, filed in 2013 to the NRC, calling for a closer look at the financial qualifications of Entergy Corporation’s subsidiaries. Vermont has questioned in the past Entergy’s use of the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Trust Fund to pay for activities related to spent fuel management. Because the reactor is shutdown prematurely, its decommissioning trust fund has not accrued enough interest to cover the costs, and that state fears that the money used for spent fuel management will only delay the trust fund’s growth. “Entergy is responsible for the safe decommissioning of Vermont Yankee, and the NRC should ensure that Entergy has sufficient financial capacity to perform the necessary activities,” Chief Assistant Attorney General William Griffin said in a Jan. 27 letter to the NRC. “The Master Trust Agreement requires Entergy to finance certain post-shutdown activities through means other than the NDT Fund. The NRC should thus fully investigate the financial qualifications of Entergy and its subsidiaries.”
Entergy, for its part, maintains all of its subsidiaries are financially qualified. “The licensees remain financially qualified to own and operate the facilities, and are committed to safe operations at those facilities while meeting all NRC requirements,” Entergy spokesman Marty Cohn said in an email. “The licensees remain financially qualified to own and operate the facilities, and are committed to safe operations at those facilities while meeting all NRC requirements. With respect to Vermont Yankee, which ceased operations in December 2014, we have submitted a Post-shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report to the NRC demonstrating that the plant’s decommissioning trust fund will be adequate to complete decommissioning activities, including spent fuel management, safely and within the time period prescribed by the NRC.”
