Members of the Vermont congressional delegation are urging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to give local stakeholders “a seat at the table” in the decommissioning process for nuclear power plants.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I), and Rep. Peter Welch (D), joined by 12 House and Senate members, wrote a letter to NRC Chairman Stephen Burns on Tuesday. The letter provides suggestions to NRC as it works through its 2019 decommissioning rulemaking, an effort meant to improve decommissioning regulations with a focus on reducing the need for safety exemptions at closed nuclear power plants. NRC closes its current public comment period Friday.
Among other recommendations the Vermont lawmakers suggested NRC require licensees of reactors being decommissioned to include state and local input on decommissioning plans, which the regulator would formally approve. In August, the state of Vermont sued NRC for allowing the owner of the Vermont Nuclear Power Plant, Entergy, to use $225 million from its decommissioning trust fund for management of spent nuclear fuel, which the state contends is illegal. The state and former plant owner, Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., have interest in the fund because 55 percent of the money left over after decommissioning will be returned to the facility’s original Vermont ratepayers. A federal court in February dismissed the lawsuit, asking the NRC to address the issue at the commission level.
“The decommissioning of a nuclear power plant has an enormous impact on the state and communities hosting the plant,” the letter states. “It is essential, therefore, that the agency work collaboratively with states, localities, and interested parties throughout the decommissioning process.”
