Requests to intervene in Pilgrim sale challenged
By Christine Leger
Posted Mar 20, 2019
Plant’s owner, potential owner ask regulators to reject speculation about decommissioning.
The current owner of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station and the company looking to take over and decommission the plant after it shuts down have asked federal regulators to reject requests from state officials and the Pilgrim Watch citizens group to intervene in the review of the plant’s sale and license transfer.
Pilgrim, the only nuclear plant still operating in Massachusetts, is set to permanently shut down May 31.
Plant owner Entergy Corp. and prospective owner Holtec International submitted a transfer-of-license request to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in November. Under the terms of the transfer, Holtec would take over the nuclear reactor for decommissioning and the 1,500-acre site.
As part of the deal, Holtec also would get Pilgrim’s $1.03 billion fund to cover decommissioning costs, management of 4,100 radioactive spent fuel rods and site cleanup.
If the plant does not change hands, Entergy has said it would stretch the decommissioning of Pilgrim over 60 years. Holtec said it would get the work done in eight years.
In a request to intervene in the license transfer filed last month, Attorney General Maura Healey cited concerns that money might run out before decommissioning was completed and that the environmental study required before the start of plant decommissioning was inadequate.
Pilgrim Watch filed similar concerns as its reason to intervene.
Both were looking for hearings.
“We’re intervening to protect the public and ensure the transaction does not leave our state’s taxpayers on the hook for any of the costs,” Healey wrote in a statement last month.
In its calculations, Holtec had estimated it could complete decommissioning and site restoration with $3.6 million to spare. State officials said the margin did not allow for unanticipated events such as the discovery of previously unknown radiological and nonradiological contamination, a radiological incident during transfer of spent fuel to dry casks for storage, a future requirement from the Department of Energy to repackage the spent fuel before transport to a federal repository, and other money-draining possibilities.
In their joint request that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission deny the petitions, Entergy and Holtec say the state relies on speculation rather than facts in its petition.
“The Commonwealth merely speculates regarding various possibilities that could affect (Holtec’s) decommissioning cost estimate for Pilgrim,” the joint response says. The companies add the state’s arguments related to financial risk “lack adequate support and fail to raise any genuine material dispute” to the application for license transfer.
Holtec further points out its decommissioning cost estimate contains a 17 percent contingency — about $165 million.
Entergy and Holtec also address the state’s contention that an expanded environmental review should be done before decommissioning, saying the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not require such study. Instead, the review relies on existing documents such as environmental assessments or supplemental environmental statements.
“We believe the transfer of Pilgrim from Entergy to Holtec for prompt, safe and efficient decommissioning is the best outcome for all stakeholders, including the Commonwealth and the Town of Plymouth,” Entergy spokesman Patrick O’Brien said via email.
The attorney general was successful in securing an extension of the March 25 deadline to reply to Entergy’s and Holtec’s response to April 1. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted the same extension to Pilgrim Watch.
The five-member commission will then review the requests to intervene and consider the arguments against them.
If a hearing is granted, it could take place in front of the full commission, a designated member or an appointed hearing officer.
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