Happy Friday, nuke-watchers. Here are some developments from around the world of civilian nuclear power RadWaste Monitor was tracking this week.
“We Appreciate Your Concern” About Interim Storage, Hanson Tells Texas Gov
A recently-licensed interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Texas meets the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s guidelines, the agency recently told the state governor.
NRC decided Sep. 14 to issue a license to Interim Storage Partners (ISP) for its proposed interim storage site in Andrews, Texas because the project “meets the standards and requirements of the [Atomic Energy Act] and the NRC’s regulations,” agency chair Christopher Hanson told Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) in a letter dated Oct. 21.
“Throughout the review process, the NRC has worked hard to keep you and your staff updated on any developments,” Hanson said. On Sep. 13, just a day before the license was issued, NRC staff “spoke directly” with Abbott’s staff to alert them that a decision was imminent and to answer questions, Hanson said.
“We appreciate your interest in and your concerns about this project,” Hanson said. “We also value the strong partnership between the NRC and the State of Texas under the Agreement State program,” he said, referring to the agency program under which the Lone Star State can regulate some of its own radioactive waste disposal.
The chairman was responding to a Sep. 10 letter from Abbott regarding the ISP site and a new law signed by the governor just the day before, which banned the storage of high level nuclear waste in Texas.
Abbott has long been an opponent of interim storage in Texas. In a November 2020 letter, Abbott urged NRC to deny ISP’s license application. “Spent nuclear fuel is so dangerous that it belongs in a deep geologic repository, not on a concrete pad above ground in Andrews County,” Abbott said.
The proposed ISP site is one of two commercial interim storage projects under NRC’s purview. The other, planned for southeastern New Mexico by Holtec International, is still under licensing review — a process NRC has said should wrap up in January.
NY Gov Announces $15M for Indian Point Host Communities
A settlement with the former owner of an upstate New York nuclear plant allowed for a major cash injection for its host community while the site is decommissioned, the state’s governor announced this week.
The $15 million award, announced in a press release Wednesday by Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), will be split up among a number of stakeholders in and around Buchanan, N.Y., where the now-shuttered Indian Point Energy Center is located.
That cash is part of a legal settlement between the state, utility company Entergy and nuclear services company Holtec International approved by New York’s public service commission in May. Holtec, which has been decommissioning Indian Point, took control of the site from Entergy when it went offline in April.
“This funding is part of a comprehensive approach to ensure that Indian Point’s closure does not translate to a lack of investment in the region,” Hochul said in a statement Wednesday.
According to the release, the village of Buchanan and the surrounding town of Cortlandt, N.Y. will receive around $7 million to support the planning of new sewer infrastructure. That improvement could leverage another $10 million in funding from the state, the release said.
Another $6.5 million of the award will go to the Hudson River Foundation for a biological monitoring program that had previously been funded by Entergy, the release said. The rest of the award will be doled out to a local school district, historical society and a teamsters’ union hall, the release said.
Meanwhile …
Time’s Up for Public Comment on Indian Point PSDAR
Last Friday was the deadline for the interested public to provide their input on Indian Point Nuclear Generating Station’s decommissioning plan, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
NRC set the Oct. 22 deadline for the Buchanan, N.Y. nuclear plant’s post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) in a June Federal Register notice. The PSDAR details estimated costs and timelines for decommissioning and site remediation at Indian Point, which shut down April 30.
New Jersey-based nuclear services company Holtec International is decommissioning Indian Point. The company agreed to take the plant over from Entergy in 2019.
So far, the decommissioning process has been progressing on schedule, Holtec has said. A spokesperson for the company told RadWaste Monitor in September that 58 of Indian Point’s 125 spent fuel canisters should be loaded onto an onsite storage pad by the end of the year. Waste transfer should be done for good by 2023 or so, the spokesperson said.
NRC Grants Another COVID-19 Exemption to Nuclear Plant
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission told another nuclear power plant that it could temporarily ignore some operating regulations in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a notice filed this week.
In a Tuesday Federal Register notice, NRC granted R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant’s request for a work-hours exemption. The decision allows the Ontario, N.Y. power plant to ignore federal regulations preventing employees from working more than 72 hours a week. The plant, owned by Exelon, said in September that it needed the exemption due to staffing shortages caused by the pandemic.
This is just the latest in a number of regulatory exemptions NRC has granted to nuclear plants across the country in response to COVID-19. The agency granted three similar work-hour exemptions to Fermi Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan, Clinton Power Station in Illinois and Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania.
NRC has also granted a number of COVID-related exemptions to force-on-force antiterrorism exercises at nuclear power plants. Between March and November of last year the agency made 48 such exemptions. Force-on-force inspections resumed in March.
