Diverting some money within the decommissioning trust fund for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts would not undermine the intended function of the account, according to staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Agency staff on July 1 issued an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Entergy’s application for a regulatory exemption allowing it to use a portion of the trust for spent fuel management and site restoration.
“The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that there is reasonable assurance that adequate funds are available in the Trust to complete all activities associated with decommissioning and spent fuel management and site restoration,” according to an agency notice in the Federal Register. The action would have no impact on the environment or safety, the NRC said.
The request remains under review, with no schedule for a decision, an NRC spokesman said this week.
Without an exemption from the NRC, nuclear plant owners under federal regulations currently can only use the trusts for work that meets the legal definition of decommissioning: removing a site safely from operations, with radioactivity levels sufficiently low to release the property for termination of the license and restricted or unrestricted use. That does not cover site restoration or spent fuel management.
The requirement for such exemptions could be eliminated as part of the ongoing rulemaking for nuclear reactors transitions from operations to decommissioning. The commission received the package of proposed regulatory updates in May 2018, and was continuing its review as of last month. The final rule is scheduled for publication in March 2021.
In its November 2018 application for the exemption, Entergy said the nearly $1.1 billion value of the trust as of the end of the year would be sufficient to cover license termination, spent fuel management, and site restoration expenses through 2080.
In the application, Entergy said it intended to put Pilgrim into SAFSTOR mode upon closure, under which final decommissioning can be delayed for up to six decades. The single-reactor power plant on Cape Cod closed on May 31.
By the time of the exemption application, Entergy had announced plans to sell the facility to Holtec International for expedited decommissioning that would be completed within a decade. The companies hope to complete the deal this year, presuming NRC approval of their request to transfer Pilgrim’s operations and spent fuel storage licenses from Enterty to Holtec.
Holtec filed a corresponding exemption request for the Pilgrim decommissioning trust, but it would be considered secondary until the license transfer is complete.
This is one of several deals Holtec is pursuing to acquire shuttered or soon-to-close nuclear plants. In each case, Holtec would assume ownership of the decommissioning trust and all responsibility for cleanup and spent fuel management on the property. Presumptive profit would come from the trust at the end of its work.
The NRC is expected around the end of July to issue its decision on the license transfer for Pilgrim. “This is still the timeframe we are working towards to be ready, but we understand and appreciate the process takes time,” Entergy spokesman Pat O’Brien said by email last week. “I think a good measuring stick is Holtec’s work on Oyster Creek.”
The NRC on June 20 approved the license transfer of Exelon’s Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey to Holtec. The sale went through on July 1.
The commonwealth of Massachusetts and the advocacy group Pilgrim Watch have separately petitioned to intervene in the license transfer proceeding. An agency ruling in favor of granting one or both entities an adjudicatory hearing to argue contentions against the Pilgrim license transfer could extend the schedule for the entire process.
Pilgrim is currently in what Entergy terms Phase 1 of decommissioning, following removal of the final 580 fuel assemblies from the reactor in June.
“Phase 1 is our transition to a defueled plant and staffing of a full compliant emergency preparedness plan,” according to O’Brien. “Next steps for Holtec depend on License Transfer, if Entergy continues ownership without the transfer we would look to move to phase 2 approximately 10 months after shutdown.”
All used fuel at Pilgrim is expected to be in dry storage within two-and-a-half years. That covers 4,114 fuel assemblies, all of which are now either in the plant’s cooling pool or already in dry storage. In documents submitted to the NRC last year, Holtec said it expected to spend just over $500 million on spent fuel management at Pilgrim.
The company would be responsible for the radioactive waste until the Department of Energy meets its legal mandate to remove it from the property.
Roughly 270 Entergy employees at Pilgrim will shift to Holtec once the sale is complete. The facility had about 580 at the time of closure, prior to workforce cuts in June.
“With a delayed release a total of 60 will move south to remain with our fleet,” O’Brien stated. “As for the remainder, a large portion retired while others chose to pursue opportunities at other plants in New England while others left the industry all together.”
