The New York Public Service Commission on Thursday approved Entergy’s $110 million sale of its James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant to Exelon, saying the deal will allow the state to achieve its 2030 carbon reduction goals. The transaction still requires approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Justice.
Entergy agreed to sell the upstate facility to Exelon in August, after the NYPSC approved Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Clean Energy Standard, which is projected to pay upstate nuclear power plant operators nearly $8 billion in energy subsidies over the program’s lifetime. Cuomo has set a goal of sourcing 50 percent of New York’s electricty with clean, renewable energy by 2030.
“The transfer will facilitate the continued operation of the carbon-neutral plant as a bridge to a renewable energy future without the need for imported fossil fuels such as fracked gas and oil from out of state or for the restarting of coal plants to supply energy demand from across the state,” the Public Service Commission said a press release.
Entergy, citing economic hardship, had originally planned to shut down FitzPatrick in January 2017. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2017
A number of utilities and environmental groups have filed challenges against the sale, including Public Citizen’s request last month that FERC reject Entergy’s application, claiming the utilities did not address the deal’s impact on New York’s power market. Soon after, a coalition of electric utilities sued the Public Service Commission, arguing that Cuomo’s program unlawfully intrudes on FERC’s authority over New York’s power market. Those reviews are pending.
FitzPatrick employs about 600 workers, contributes roughly $500 million per year in regional economic activity, and accounts for $17.3 million in local property taxes supporting critical services to local governments and schools, according to the NYPSC.
“Our finding today is that the public will be well-served by the transfer of ownership of FitzPatrick,” commission Chair Audrey Zibelman said in a statement. “Exelon has an excellent track record as the owner of nuclear power plants, and we fully expect it will operate FitzPatrick in a safe and reliable fashion.”
Groups Ask NRC to Deny Fukushima Extensions at FitzPatrick
Two antinuclear groups have asked the NRC to deny Entergy’s request to relax post-Fukushima safety rules at the FitzPatrick plant.
The NRC implemented a series of design improvements for American nuclear reactors following the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan, which occurred after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a 15-meter tsunami.
Entergy is required to comply with new rules for beyond-design-basis external events and reliable spent fuel pool instrumentation by June 2017. The reliable spent fuel pool instrumentation allows the utility to record critical water levels in the spent fuel pool: the level adequate enough to support normal fuel pool cooling; level adequate enough to provide substantial radiation shielding for a person standing on the spent fuel pool operating deck; and the level where fuel remains covered but the operator must add water.
The utility is also required to install a hardened containment venting system (HCVS) for FitzPatrick’s reactor containment buildings. The HCVS allows operators to remove heat and pressure and prevent severe damage to reactor cores. FitzPatrick features a boiling-water reactor design similar to the three reactors that melted down at Fukushima. The company has requested an extension to comply with the beyond-design-basis and spent fuel pool measures until June 2017, and an extension to comply with the hardened vent measure until June 2018.
Entergy, citing economic hardship, had originally planned to shut down FitzPatrick in January 2017, meaning the utility would forgo the measures entirely if granted the extensions. However, FitzPatrick very well could remain in operation well past January assuming the sale to Exelon goes through.
Antinuclear groups Beyond Nuclear and the Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), in a Nov. 10 filing with the NRC that was made public Tuesday, have requested a hearing with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. “The combined request is, in fact, a request for a license amendment affecting public health and safety; and Entergy should therefore be required to follow the NRC’s standard rules and practices for amending a modified operating license,” the filing reads. “In order to protect Petitioners’ health, safety and property. We believe that Entergy must be made to follow NRC standard rules and procedures to file valid Requests for a License Amendment.”
The groups said the relaxation requests actually amount to a license amendment request and therefore should be subject to a public hearing.
“The combined Request is, in fact, a request for a license amendment affecting public health and safety; and Entergy should therefore be required to follow the NRC’s standard rules and practices for amending a modified operating license,” the filing reads. “In order to protect Petitioners’ health, safety and property. We believe that Entergy must be made to follow NRC standard rules and procedures to file valid Requests for a License Amendment.”
There are 1,429 spent fuel assemblies in dry storage (independent spent fuel storage installation) at FitzPatrick, and 2,420 spent fuel assemblies in the plant’s spent fuel pool.
The NRC is weighing a similar hearing request for post-Fukushima relaxation requests at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts, where Pilgrim Watch and seven other petitioners claim Entergy is trying to circumvent the hardened vent requirement and other measures. Pilgrim is expected to shut down in 2019. NRC staff has recommended that the commission deny the petitioners’ request, stating that the parties are not entitled to a hearing under the under the Atomic Energy Act or agency regulations.
“The commission has reasoned that ‘allowing NRC hearings on claims for stronger enforcement remedies risks’ turning focused regulatory proceedings into amorphous public extravaganzas,” the NRC staff recommendation said.
