Entergy has slightly narrowed its new timeline for closure of the Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, according to a recent letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The power provider had planned to close the nuclear facility next October, but in September pushed that back to spring 2022 following the dissolution of a deal for state utility Consumers Energy to buy the purchase agreement for power produced by Palisades. The deal was mutually terminated after the Michigan Public Service Commission limited the amount of bonds Consumers Energy (former operator of Palisades) could use in the acquisition to about $136 million, $35 million less than requested.
In an Oct. 19 letter to the NRC, Site Vice President Charles Arnone said Entergy Nuclear Operations would halt power production at Palisades by May 31, 2022. “A more specific date for permanent power cessation cannot be provided at this time due to fuel cycle duration variables,” he wrote.
There was no immediate additional information regarding the updated closure schedule. The Entergy-Consumers Energy power purchase agreement expires in April 2022.
Palisades began operations in 1971. It produces 811 megawatts of electricity and employs about 600 people.
Management of the Canadian Nuclear Laboratories said this week it has decided to restrict storage of radioactive waste at the planned Near Surface Disposal Facility in Ontario to low-level material.
The engineered containment mound is due to open in 2020 at the Chalk River Laboratories to hold up to 1 million cubic meters of waste now in storage, or anticipated to be produced by, the nuclear research facility.
Only 1 percent of that material was to have been intermediate-level waste. Instead, that material will remain in temporary storage until there is a permanent means for disposal, according to a press release from Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), the nation’s leading nuclear science and technology entity.
The organization did not respond to a query Thursday regarding the reason for the change. In a separate statement, Canada’s Environmental Assessment Agency said the CNL decision was “based on its consideration of federal, provincial and public comments.”
Canadian Nuclear Laboratories is now completing the environmental impact statement for the project following a public input period in which about 200 comments were submitted.
The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission is carrying out a “rigorous technical review” of the project to ensure it protects human health and the environment and meets all directives of the 2012 Canadian Environmental Assessment Act and the 2000 Nuclear Safety and Control Act, according to the environmental agency.
With regulatory approval, construction of six waste cells covered by Phase 1 of the project would begin in 2018, with operations beginning two years later, according to CNL. Four more waste cells would be added starting in 2040 under Phase 2. Waste disposal would wrap up by 2070.
Total projected lifetime cost, including three decades of post-operations monitoring of the site, is $600 million CAD ($470 million).
Waste to be stored at the facility includes debris from decommissioning and demolition of facilities at Chalk River, contaminated soils, and legacy waste from prior operations over more than six decades.
The Australian government is offering as much as $4 million (AUS) in community grants to be split between two regions in the running to host the nation’s National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
“The Community Benefit Programme provides funding for projects that will deliver social or economic benefits” for the communities of Barndioota and Kimba, both in South Australia, Matt Canavan, minister for resources and Northern Australia, said in a Nov. 1 press release. “The programme recognizes the community’s contribution and short-term disruption as the detailed consultation and technical assessments are underway.”
The facility is to be used for permanent storage of low-level waste and temporary storage of intermediate-level waste. Australia holds roughly 650 cubic meters of intermediate-level waste, an amount that grows by 5 cubic meters annually. It has another 4,250 cubic meters of low-level waste, which grows by about 40 cubic meters each year. The waste is the product of nuclear medicine, research reactor, and other activities.
The deadline to submit applications is Feb. 5, 2018. Ausindustry, a branch of the Australian Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science, will review the filings.
From The Wires
From KPBS: California appeals court orders state Public Utilities Commission to within three weeks turn over emails between regulators and Gov. Jerry Brown regarding the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
From the San Diego Union-Tribune: San Diego Gas & Electric ratepayers will receive about $400,000 in refunds for the lawsuit over faulty equipment that led to the permanent closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.
