The August doldrums in Washington weren’t quite as quiet as in past years, and there was plenty of news during the ExchangeMonitor’s annual publication break. As chronicled in the Weapons Complex Morning Briefing, here are a few stories we’ve been following.
Parties Aim for Regulatory OK For Vermont Yankee Sale by Oct. 31
Parties to the settlement agreement for the sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant are betting they can secure federal and state regulatory approval for the deal by Oct. 31.
That is the new date, according to a recent amendment to the settlement agreement, after which parties can withdraw if the sale has not been approved by the Vermont Public Utility Commission (VPUC). The state panel has said it will issue its decision after a ruling from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is anticipated no later than Sept. 30.
The prior deadline in the settlement agreement for a VPUC decision was July 31.
New Orleans-based power company Entergy closed Vermont Yankee in December 2014 and announced nearly two years later it would sell the site for $1,000 to NorthStar, which would be responsible for decommissioning and management of spent reactor fuel. The New York City company would keep some portion of the remaining balance in the decommissioning trust fund once cleanup is completed.
The VPUC authorized several state agencies and nongovernmental organizations to intervene in its review of the sale. All but one of those entities in March joined Entergy and NorthStar in signing the settlement agreement that sets financial and remediation terms for the ownership swap.
The agreement specifically allowed the parties to withdraw upon 10 days’ written notice if the state commission failed to approve the settlement by July 31 or otherwise “materially alters” its terms.
In late June, the companies said they hoped the VPUC would issue its decision within 30 days of the NRC ruling on the license transfer from Entergy to NorthStar. On July 6, the state commission acceded to the request on the order of the decisions – though it notably did not commit to wrapping up its review in the 30-day window.
Entergy and NorthStar hope to complete the sale by the end of this year. NorthStar has said it can complete decommissioning of Vermont Yankee as early as 2026 at a cost of roughly $811 million.
NRC Nuclear Waste Fund Balance Drops Slightly
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in June spent just over $2,000 of its remaining balance from the Nuclear Waste Fund, leaving it with $455,063 absent an infusion of money from Congress.
The Nuclear Waste Fund is intended to pay for licensing and construction of a permanent repository for U.S. spent nuclear reactor fuel and high-level defense waste. The NRC would rule on the license application from the Department of Energy, filed in 2008 for a facility to be built below Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Obama administration halted the licensing process in 2010, but a federal appeals court in August 2013 ordered the NRC to resume its proceeding.
The agency had $13.5 million available from the fund at that time and since then has spent just under $13.1 billion. With the major projects completed – including the $8.4 million completion of a safety evaluation report for the repository – spending is down to a trickle.
In June, the commission spent $1,061 on unidentified “support costs chargeable to NWW funds,” encompassing $228 on program planning and support and $833 for support and advice in NRC proceedings.
The remaining $1,111 in costs that month were split between two projects: a February meeting of the Licensing Support Network Advisory Review Panel, to consider options for reviving the document database for the NRC license review; and information-gathering about potential venues should the adjudication of the license resume.
Hearings previously were held in Las Vegas, and lawmakers from the state have pressed the NRC to ensure Nevada again hosts the sessions should they resume.
The June outlay left the agency with an unexpended balance of $484,984. Minus funds already committed, it has $455,063.
Commission leadership has said it cannot resume the actual adjudication without additional appropriations from Congress. The Trump administration has requested funding for both fiscal 2018 and the upcoming fiscal 2019; while the House has supported the requests, the Senate has balked and so far gotten its way when it comes to funding for Yucca Mountain.
US Ecology Triples Net Income in 2Q
Idaho-based environmental services provider US Ecology nearly tripled its net income in the second quarter of 2018, as earnings improved largely across the board.
Net income landed at $13.2 million ($0.60 per diluted share) for the three-month period ended June 30, up from a flat $5 million ($0.23 per diluted share) in the second quarter of 2017. The half-year numbers were also strong: $22.5 million in net income ($1.02 per diluted share), versus $10.2 million ($0.47 per diluted share).
Management attributed $0.08 per diluted share of gain for the quarter to federal tax reform.
The company brought in $136.9 million in revenue in the second quarter, up by more than $10 million from $126.1 million last year. The half-year result rose by $20 million, from $236.3 million to $256.9 million.
Adjusted earnings per share spiked by 61 percent, to $0.61.
US Ecology manages one of four active U.S. facilities licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for disposal of low-level radioactive waste, on the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state. The business is kept within US Ecology’s Environmental Services segment, which for the quarter reported year-over-year revenue growth from $89.6 million to $99 million.
“This increase was driven by a 9 percent increase in treatment and disposal revenue and a 13 percent increase in transportation service revenue,” Chief Financial Officer Eric Gerratt said during the company’s quarterly earnings call. “Base business for the Environmental Services segment was up 13 percent compared to the second quarter last year and represented 81 percent of treatment and disposal revenue.”
Management retained its prior forecast for full-year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, a range of $122 million to $128 million. Diluted earnings per share are expected to come in from $2.15 to $2.34.
International Isotopes Slashes Losses in First Half of 2018
International Isotopes’ net loss for the first half of 2018 was 79 percent smaller than the number for the same period of last year, according to the Idaho company’s latest earnings report.
Net loss dropped from nearly $1.4 million to $297,875 on a year-over-year basis, International Isotopes said Wednesday. The figures for the second quarter, ended June 30, were similarly heartening if not as large: a net loss of $332,279 in second-quarter 2018, falling by 45 percent from the $602,195 loss a year earlier.
Revenue, meanwhile, is up for both earnings periods. For the second quarter, the company raised its take by 34 percent, from $1.8 million in 2017 to $2.4 million in 2018. The half-year results showed a 43 percent books, from $3.6 million to $5.2 million.
“The decrease in net loss for both periods was largely the result of the overall increase in revenue,” the company said in a press release. “The significant increases in revenue and decreased net loss for the period comparisons was largely driven by the performance of the Company’s cobalt products, nuclear medicine products, and radiological services, business segments.”
For cobalt products, revenue skyrocketed by 284 percent in the second quarter, from $84,643 in 2017 to $324,768 in 2018, according to a 10-Q filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Nuclear medical products revenue for the quarter rose by 15 percent year over year, from $834,698 to $962,674. And radiological services revenue was up by 63 percent, from $307,666 to $505,520.
