The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Sept. 28 it expects to need at least a couple extra weeks to issue its decision on the license transfer for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
“[W]e have been saying we anticipated issuing a decision by the end of the third quarter,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said by email. “However, there has been some slippage as the NRC staff works on finalizing the decision. We are now looking at issuing the decision sometime in the near future, likely by the middle of October.”
New Orleans-based power company Entergy in December 2014 retired the boiling-water reactor in Vernon, Vt. It announced plans in November 2016 to sell it to NorthStar Group Services, of New York City, which would assume responsibility for decommissioning, spent fuel management, and site restoration. The deal requires approval from the NRC and the Vermont Public Utility Commission.
Sheehan attributed the slight delay to due diligence by NRC staff in evaluating a first-of-its-kind license-transfer application.
It could have an impact on the sale. The updated version of a settlement agreement involving parties to the state review of the deal sets Oct. 31 as the date after which any of the entities can withdraw if VPUC has not issued its ruling. Holtec and NorthStar asked the state panel to deliver its ruling within 30 days of the NRC’s, thus avoiding trouble with the deadline, though VPUC did not commit to doing so.
A spokesman on Wednesday reaffirmed that the state commission is waiting on the NRC’s decision before it makes its own ruling.
On Sept. 28, Entergy said only that “The transaction with NorthStar is targeted to close by the end of 2018, if federal and state approvals are obtained.”
So far, the parties to the March settlement agreement have not publicly announced any intentions to walk way. Along with NorthStar and Entergy, signatories include the Vernon Planning and Economic Development Commission; the New England Coalition; the Windham Regional Commission; Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi; the Elnu Abenaki Tribe; and three state agencies: the Vermont Department of Public Services, Agency of Natural Resources, and Attorney General’s Office.
The town of Vernon Planning and Economic Development Commission has not yet discussed the approaching deadline, Chairman Bob Spencer told RadWaste Monitor.
Raymond Shadis, technical adviser to the New England Coalition, said he believes the agreement’s signatories will extend the agreement if there is no state ruling by Oct. 31. “We have already extended the ‘deadline’ for all-party approval once. Having been a participant in the settlement discussions, my take-away is none of the signatories wants to go back to square one and none will back out now,” he said by email.
Meanwhile the new England Coalition has started preliminary talks with NorthStar about “seeking a workable plan for introducing stakeholder and community advice to the decommissioning,” he added.
NorthStar has said it can complete decommissioning as early as 2026 at a cost of just over $811 million. The multiparty settlement agreement is intended to allay concerns about its capacity to finish the job.
Among other items, NorthStar pledged in the deal it will have money set aside to ensure cleanup. The financial assurance package includes the decommissioning and site restoration trusts, both transferred from Entergy. It also calls for $400 million in performance bonds or corresponding assurance for subcontracted operations, and a $140 million support agreement payable to the Vermont Yankee Decommissioning Trust.
Also, when the sale is complete, NorthStar is supposed to place $30 million in an escrow fund as an emergency cushion, As time passes, NorthStar is supposed to add another $25 million. NorthStar will provide $30 million in insurance to be available for site restoration in case of unexpected conditions after the sale is completed. Entergy will also contribute roughly $30 million to the site restoration fund.
The agreement also sets the standards for declaring when cleanup is finished.
Vermont Yankee once employed about 600 workers, but is now down to 57, plus 90 to 95 working for subcontractors and security services, the Brattleboro Reformer reported this week. That number is expected to drop further to 25 to 27 in the long run.
