Decommissioning of the Zion Nuclear Power Station is now 88 percent complete and well ahead of its original 10-year project timeline, EnergySolutions announced Tuesday.
The Illinois facility, which was retired in 1998, is now on schedule and within budget for completion of decommissioning in 2018, according to the company. Decommissioning, which was budgeted at just under $1 billion, was originally scheduled to wrap up around 2020.
EnergySolutions subsidiary ZionSolutions announced in April that crews had removed the last remaining large components from the plant. Tuesday’s release said demolition of the turbine hall is nearing completion, and the next milestone will be dismantlement of the plant’s containment buildings.
The company also touted design and construction of the “most modern and largest” decontamination and decommissioning independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI); transfer of spent fuel to the ISFSI in a world-record 366 days; the industry’s first successful segmentation, removal, transportation, and disposal of both reactor vessels; and completion of the D&D industry’s “largest and most efficient major component removal and disposal project.”
“This six year overall performance reflects our workers dedication to excellence in the safe decommissioning of the Zion Nuclear Power Station and we are extremely proud of our employees for the efficient work completed,” EnergySolutions President Ken Robuck said in a statement.
