The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has scheduled a July 12 meeting to discuss Exelon’s plans to close its Clinton and Quad Cities nuclear power plants in Illinois.
“The purpose of this meeting is to afford Exelon, the licensee of Clinton Unit 1 and Quad Cities Units 1 and 2, an opportunity to discuss decommissioning plans and schedules,” according to the June 23 notice, which was posted Thursday on the NRC website.
In early June, Exelon announced it would close the Clinton Power Station on June 1, 2017, and the Quad Cities Generating Station on June 1, 2018. It submitted formal notices of the closures to the NRC last week. Further notifications are planned in coming months to regulators, power grid operators, and state bodies, the company said in a press release.
Exelon has cited the two plants’ $800 million in losses over the last seven years, along with stalled state energy policy reform legislation, in justifying the need to close the nuclear plants. Critics, including Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, have blasted the company for seeking what they view as a consumer-paid bailout.
“We worked for more than two years to find a solution, but now it is time to take the necessary steps to retire the plants,” said Chris Crane, Exelon president and CEO, said in last week’s release. “We are committed to working with all stakeholders to ensure the plants are shut down in a responsible, safe and transparent way.”
The Clinton Power Station has been operating since 1987, while the Quad Cities Generating Station dates to 1973.
The NRC meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at agency headquarters, Three White Flint North, 11601 Lansdown St., Rockville, Md., and is open to the public. Participants will include Tim Byam, with Exelon Generation Co., and Ed Miller, with the NRC Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
Details of the plants’ closure and decommissioning processes are not yet set, Exelon said Thursday. The final amount of spent fuel from the two sites is also not known.
“Exelon is in the very early stages of planning for shutdown and decommissioning of Clinton and Quad Cities. The schedule for decommissioning will be developed during the planning stages and described in the Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report as required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC),” spokesman Paul Dempsey said by email. “Since this planning has not yet occurred, a specific time table or cost projections for decommissioning cannot be provided at this time.”
