Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
5/9/2014
As Dominion’s Kewaunee Power Station reaches its one year anniversary of ceasing operations this week, the plant has begun preparations to enter into SAFESTOR mode, according to Dominion spokesman Mark Kanz. Dominion announced that it would be shutting Kewaunee down in 2012 due to economic reasons, and it ceased operations on May 7, 2013. The company chose to invoke the SAFESTOR method of decommissioning that enables the plant to sit for up to 60 years before active decommissioning activities start. “While it may not look like it from the outside, a lot has happened in the last year,” Kanz said. “Inside the station, nearly 80 systems needed to be evaluated. That work is continuing. Those systems not needed to support spent fuel cooling or safety functions are being drained and reduced to the lowest energy level possible.” Kanz added that many system components within the plant are being recycled. “Many of the station transformers were demobilized and scrapped out earlier this year,” he said. “Our asset recovery team was unable to find a buyer to reuse the units, so they were recycled. The turbine generator excitor was removed about 10 days ago and shipped to a power plant in Tennessee.”
The Kewaunee station is also seeking to soften the security and emergency preparedness regulations required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “Security and emergency preparedness requirements are still unchanged and a number of our staff members are working on these exemptions and other changes to Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses and requirements,” Kanz said. “The security check point and vehicle search area is no longer required. Passersby might also notice less traffic at our training building which is visible from the highway.” Kanz said that all of these activities were in preparation for beginning the SAFESTOR timeframe.
Spent Fuel Pool Drainage Is Next Big Step
The next big step in preparing to enter into SAFESTOR is the emptying of the spent fuel pools, which is set to occur in 2015 and 2016, Kanz said. Dominion contracted with NAC International to take care of emptying the pool, and the company should begin that process “as soon as the weather allows beginning in the spring of 2016,” Kanz said. In the meantime, NAC International will be constructing concrete storage units in 2015 to host the waste on-site until a time when the Department of Energy finds a solution for a federal repository. Kanz added that once this step is complete, the plant can decommission other systems. “Once the spent fuel pool is emptied and the fuel is safely stored in our dry storage facility, we can begin the process of decommissioning additional plant systems,” Kanz said. “Only those needed for safety, security and the plant support buildings will be needed. The spent fuel pool will be cleaned and drained and the facility will lay dormant until for another 50-plus years.”
In order to pay for these activities related to irradiated fuel management, Dominion is seeking to access its decommissioning trust funds. The NRC is currently considering granting an exemption that would enable the company to access the site’s decommissioning funds, according to a posting in the Federal Register late last week. Dominion is also seeking to receive an exemption that would enable the company to make the withdrawals from the decommissioning trust for irradiated fuel management activities without prior notification to the NRC. The Federal Register posting said the NRC Staff is issuing an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact associated with the proposed exemptions.
