By John Stang
Exelon plans to delay decommissioning of its soon-to-retire Three Mile Island nuclear plant reactor Unit 1 (TM-1) for nearly 60 years, with a roughly $1.2 billion cost estimate for full cleanup.
The reactor will join the long-closed Three Mile Island Unit 2 in the long-term storage and monitoring condition known as SAFSTOR, according to Exelon’s April 5 post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) to the U.S Nuclear Regulatory Commission. That “safe storage” approach gives nuclear utilities up to six decades to complete active decommissioning of a reactor, allowing time for radiation levels to drop and funding to increase.
The power plant near Harrisburg, Pa., has two reactors. TMI-1 is owned by Exelon, with its NRC license due to expire in 2034. FirstEnergy Corp.’s TMI-2, closed after famously partly melting down in 1979, has been in SAFSTOR mode since 1993.
Exelon announced nearly two years ago that it would close TMI-1 in September 2019 — a deadline that for now remains intact. However, the company could keep the reactor operational if the Pennsylvania General Assembly passes legislation that would require the state’s utilities to increase their purchases of power from non-carbon-emitting sources – specifically nuclear power. State estimates suggest the measure would add $500 million in revenue annually for six years to support the combination of Exelon’s TMI-1 and FirstEnergy Solutions’ two Beaver Valley plant reactors, which are also due to be retired in 2021.
If TMI-1 does close, Exelon would conduct initial decommissioning through February 2021, including removing unneeded smaller systems for dismantlement and storage. Eventually, a staff of about 50 is expected to remain at TMI-1 when it is placed into SAFSTOR.
All of the site’s spent nuclear fuel, estimated to fill 46 canisters, would be moved to dry storage by December 2022. The used fuel is to eventually be moved to a consolidated interim storage site — probably in New Mexico or Texas — once one of those sites is built and receives NRC licensing.
The reactor would stay in SAFSTOR until resumption of decommissioning in the 2070s, with a 2079 deadline for completion.
Exelon does not currently plan on selling TMI-1 to a decommissioning corporation, said company spokesman Dave Marcheskie. The Chicago-based power company is seeking NRC regulatory approval to sell its Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey, which closed in September, to Holtec International for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management. Holtec also plans to buy several reactors from Entergy for the same purpose, this week announcing the intended acquisition of the Indian Point Energy Center in New York. In each case, Holtec would take ownership of the plant’s decommissioning trust.
Exelon’s budget estimate for decommissioning TMI-1 is $1.001 billion, along with $158 million for spent fuel management and $86 million for site restoration. That brings the total budget estimate to $1.245 billion, according to the PSDAR.
On Dec. 31, 2016, TMI-1 had $626 million in its decommissioning trust fund, according to an August 2018 NRC roundup report on the nation’s decommissioning trust funds. Both the NRC and Exelon said the company is on track to have the appropriate funding ready when needed.
Spent nuclear fuel core debris from Three Mile Island Unit 2 is stored at the Idaho National Laboratory. The Department of Energy has requested the NRC renew the license for the independent spent fuel storage installation for 20 years, through 2039.
New Jersey Plants Get a Boost
Meanwhile, the New Jersey Public Utilities Board on Thursday approved issuing zero-emission credits aimed at keeping the state’s last two operational nuclear plants open.
New Jersey last year joined Illinois and New York state, and potentially Pennsylvania and Ohio if current legislation is approved, in establishing credit programs to prop up nuclear plants whose owners say they are not competitive in today’s energy market.
The New Jersey credits will provide $100 million annually for three years to each of the three reactors – the two reactors at the jointly owned Public Service Enterprise Group-Exelon Salem plant and the single unit at PSEG’s Hope Creek plant, all in Lower Alloways Creek Township.
The Public Utilities Board voted 4-1 in favor of the order. It will decide after three years whether to sustain the program.
“We are pleased with the decision to award ZECs to PSEG to help support New Jersey’s primary supply of zero-carbon electricity,” the company said in a prepared statement. “The BPU just saved the people of the State hundreds of millions of dollars in what would have been higher energy costs, thousands of jobs lost and tons of environmentally damaging air emissions.”
Public Service Enterprise Group had indicated throughout the year – as recently as this week – that the plants would close absent economic assistance. “If all of the Salem and Hope Creek plants are selected to receive ZECs, Power would withdraw the exception requests and deactivation notices,” PSEG said Monday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Critics of the credit plan pointed to findings that the New Jersey plants could survive without the revenue assistance, NorthJersey.com reported.
“The statute establishing the criteria for the Board to consider in deciding whether ‘Zero Emissions Credits” (“ZECs”) are warranted requires the Applicants to demonstrate that their financial situation is such that without ZEC subsidies they will be forced to close the plants within the next three years and that if they do so, specific significant environmental harms will result,” according to the New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel. “In making their case for ZEC subsidies, however, PSEG and Exelon have overstated their costs and understated their revenues.”
