The state of New York’s public service committee voted unanimously this week to approve a proposed joint settlement agreement in which the company set to decommission Indian Point Energy Center will commit to greater financial transparency and community engagement.
The New York Public Service Commission’s 4-0 vote at a virtual meeting Wednesday to greenlight the April settlement between the state, Holtec International, and Entergy spells the end to a months-long legal battle. With the commission’s consent, the state can move forward with finalizing the proposed settlement.
If the agreement is set in stone, Holtec will commit to keep a balance of at least $400 million in Indian Point’s dedicated decommissioning trust fund as it dismantles the Buchanan, N.Y. nuclear power plant, and it would file a complaint against the Department of Energy to receive compensation for spent fuel management — 50% of which would need to go into the trust fund.
The company would also need to help fund local emergency response and provide regular status updates to the state and other stakeholders including through the use of a public-facing website.
In return, New York will withdraw its Jan. 22 lawsuit against Holtec and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in D.C.’s court of appeals. At deadline Thursday for Weapons Complex Morning Briefing there had been no new filings in that case since state attorney general Letitia James requested and received May 14 a deadline extension while the parties worked out the settlement.
Meanwhile, Indian Point is formally under Holtec’s stewardship. The Camden, N.J.-based nuclear services company took over from Entergy April 30, when the plant’s Unit 3 reactor went offline for good.
Indian Point Unit 3 marked the last of the site’s reactors to shut down. Unit 2 went dark late last year, and Unit 1 shut down back in 1974.
