Citizens Awareness Network

NRC seeks details on Pilgrim sale

By Christine Legere
Posted Sep 12, 2018

Principals in planned transfer to outline decommissioning plans for federal regulators

PLYMOUTH — During a meeting with federal regulators Sept. 25, Entergy Corp. will outline its plan for decommissioning Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, should it continue to own the Plymouth plant after its permanent shutdown in June, and prospective buyer Holtec International will present its own decommissioning plan, which boasts an aggressive timeline.

Entergy hopes to transfer Pilgrim’s license to Holtec in late 2019.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would approve the transfer, scheduled the meeting to get a better understanding of the deal.

Although discussion will take place at the agency’s regional headquarters in Maryland, members of the public can dial in to listen and even ask questions.

The primary focus will be establishing a schedule under the license transfer review process, according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

“But there undoubtedly will be other areas that come up,” Sheehan said. “We will not impose limits on what topics the public can ask about, but we always try to keep discussion focused on the purpose of the meeting.”

In early August, Entergy announced its intention to sell Pilgrim to Holtec once the plant is shut down and the last of the spent fuel is removed from the reactor.

Holtec has partnered with SNC-Lavalin to form a company called Comprehensive Decommissioning International, which will handle thedecommissioning of Pilgrim as well as two other reactors scheduled to be permanently shut down.

As part of the Pilgrim license transfer, Holtec would get ownership of the reactor and the site, radioactive spent fuel and more than $1 billion in Pilgrim’s decommissioning trust fund.

Holtec’s aggressive timeline calls for moving all 4,000 radioactive spent fuel rods into concrete dry casks within three years and completing all major decommissioning work within eight years.

Entergy has publicly stated it would likely choose a frequently used option called SAFSTOR, which allows the licensee to stretch the decommissioning process over 60 years.

The long timeline concerns plant watchdogs, who want the radioactive reactor and buildings dismantled and moved off-site and the spent fuel contained in heavy dry casks.

Plymouth town officials are also eager to see the 1,600-acre property cleaned and released for reuse.

“What I hope is (Holtec) will cover not just how quickly it will do the job, but what financial assurance it will bring to the table,” said Mary Lampert, president of Pilgrim Watch, who plans to tune in to the meeting. “What if they run out of money, and the job’s not done?”

Lampert said money also must be set aside for future expenses, such as repair or replacement of the dry casks, since there is currently no firm plan for a federal permanent storage site.

Holtec has a proposal under federal review for an interim storage facility for spent fuel called Hi-Store, located in New Mexico. One selling point the company touted when it met with Plymouth officials was that its ownership of Pilgrim would put the plant high on the list for transfer of its spent fuel to the New Mexico facility.

The facility could be licensed around the same time Pilgrim’s ownership transfers to Holtec.

“The NRC staff expects to complete its safety, security and environmental reviews for the application (for Hi-Store) by July 2020, though it could be sooner if Holtec’s responses to our Requests for Additional Information are timely and of high quality,” Sheehan wrote in an email.

Holtec estimates it will spend $24 million to $25 million on the licensing process for the storage facility, according to company spokeswoman Caitlin Marmion.

The license, if granted, would be good for 40 years.

The company would build the interim storage facility in 10 phases. The facility ultimately would be capable of storing 10,000 canisters of radioactive fuel, the equivalent of 173,000 metric tons of uranium.

The Sept. 25 meeting will open at 1:30 p.m., with presentations by Entergy and Holtec that will be followed by discussion and questions from NRC staff. The question period for the public is on the agenda for 3:15 p.m. The meeting will adjourn at 3:30.