The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday 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.”
Power company Entergy retired the boiling-water reactor in December 2014 and announced plans in November 2016 to sell it to NorthStar Group Services, 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 hoped the state panel would deliver its ruling within 30 days of the NRC’s, thus avoiding trouble with the deadline, though VPUC did not commit to doing so.
On Friday, Entergy said only that “The transaction with NorthStar is targeted to close by the end of 2018, if federal and state approvals are obtained.”
