The members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday rejected requests for an immediate freeze of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
The staff order in August covering the reactor and spent-fuel storage licenses allowed owner Entergy to sell the retired plant to Holtec International for decommissioning. The deal was completed on Aug. 26.
Both the commonwealth of Massachusetts and the local advocacy group Pilgrim Watch then asked the commission to stay the license transfer and a staff-approved exemption allowing Holtec to use the facility’s decommissioning trust fund for management of spent reactor fuel.
The four commissioners declined, saying the petitioners had not met the threshold for suffering “imminent, irreparable harm” if the stay is not approved.
In its memorandum and order, the commission noted that it can still reverse the staff decision on the license transfer and exemption.
“[T]he staff’s order is not the agency’s final action on the license transfer and exemption request,” the order says. “This adjudicatory proceeding continues separate from the Staff’s review. The Staff’s order therefore remains subject to our authority to modify, condition, or rescind, depending on this proceeding’s outcome.”
The commission is also still considering February petitions from the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and Pilgrim Watch to intervene in the license transfer proceeding. In those filings, the parties said they should be given hearings to address concerns including Holtec’s financial capacity to complete decommissioning.
The Attorney General’s Office in September petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to reverse the license transfer and other approvals that enabled the sale to go through. That case remains pending.
Entergy retired Pilgrim’s single reactor on May 31. Holtec says it can complete decommissioning and site restoration by the end of 2027.
