Commercial Decommissioning

Advocacy groups are pushing Ohio’s public utilities commission to pursue a broader investigation of FirstEnergy and affiliates’ alleged lobbying activities associated with nuclear power plant bailouts under Larry Householder, the former Ohio House speaker.  The utility company has until the end of the day Wednesday to show cause demonstrating that the costs of any political […]

Holtec plans to submit its license transfer application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to acquire the Palisades Power Plant by the end of this year or early 2021, Andrea Sterdis, Holtec’s Vice President of Regulatory & Environmental Affairs, said Tuesday. The company announced plans to acquire the Covert, Michigan-based plant from Entergy Corp. for decommissioning […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to complete the Three Mile Island Unit 2 license transfer by fall of this year, according to Bruce Watson, Chief of the NRC Reactor Decommissioning Branch. If approved, GPU Nuclear, the FirstEnergy subsidiary that currently owns the reactor, will be allowed to transfer its license to a TMI-2 Solutions, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission plans to complete the Three Mile Island Unit 2 license transfer by fall of this year, according to Bruce Watson, Chief of the NRC Reactor Decommissioning Branch. If approved, GPU Nuclear, the FirstEnergy subsidiary that currently owns the reactor, will be allowed to transfer its license to a TMI-2 Solutions, […]

Holtec plans to submit its license transfer application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to acquire the Palisades Power Plant by the end of this year or early 2021, Andrea Sterdis, Holtec’s vice president of regulatory & environmental affairs, said Tuesday. The company announced plans to acquire the Covert, Michigan-based plant from Entergy Corp. for decommissioning […]

Aaron Larson POWER magazine The Duane Arnold Energy Center – a 615-megawatt nuclear power plant located in Palo, Iowa – will reportedly not restart after high winds caused extensive damage to the station’s cooling towers. The plant owner, NextEra Energy Resources, had planned to retire the unit on Oct. 30, but after assessing damage caused […]

Southern California Edison has about 110 employees remaining at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) following the latest round of layoffs earlier this month, according to a senior site official. The utility transitioned the retired power plant in San Diego County to an independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI)-only property on Aug. 10, SONGS […]

Two companies and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have reached an agreement to allow the sale and decommissioning of reactor Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. Last October, nuclear services firm EnergySolutions signed a contract to buy TMI-2 from FirstEnergy Corp. and several subsidiaries. A subsidiary, TMI-2 Solutions, would be […]

A deal could be approaching to resolve Pennsylvania’s concerns about the planned sale and decommissioning of the long-retired reactor Unit 2 at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant. In a motion filed Monday, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to wait at least until Aug. 11 to rule […]

Edison International and subsidiary Southern California Edison on Tuesday reported a significant drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2020, even as the parent company remained firmly in the black. Sales of fuel from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) helped offset the non-core loss per share at Southern California Edison (SCE), […]

Edison International and subsidiary Southern California Edison on Tuesday reported a significant drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2020, even as the parent company remained firmly in the black. Sale of fuel from the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) helped offset the non-core loss per share at Southern California Edison (SCE), […]

An article in the Tuesday edition of Weapons Complex Morning Briefing misstated plans by Exelon and FirstEnergy Corp. for their respective reactors at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has voted 4-1 to approve an exemption for some emergency planning requirements for the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. The commissioners’ votes and comments were collected during the past couple weeks, and posted Monday to the NRC website. Commissioner Jeff Baran cast the sole vote against the exemption. […]

By John Stang A New Jersey state judge on July 17 signed a consent order authorizing Holtec International to continue decommissioning of the retired Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station. The order nominally resolves a brief dispute between the energy technology company and leaders in largely rural Lacey Township in south New Jersey, home to the […]

The government of the United Kingdom said Friday it would in 2021 assume ownership of the privately held entities managing disposal of the nation’s low-level radioactive waste and cleanup at a retired reactor site in Scotland. Dounreay Site Restoration Ltd. will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the U.K. Nuclear Decommissioning Authority in March 2021, […]

Holtec International faces a criminal probe for “misrepresentations” made in applying for millions of dollars’ worth of tax credits from its home state of New Jersey, a state agency said this week. The New Jersey Economic Development Authority cited the investigation in a June 22 filing for its motion to dismiss a Holtec lawsuit over […]

The commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the late stages of negotiations to lift its objections over the license transfer and sale of the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was scheduled Thursday afternoon to rule on petitions for intervention and hearings in the license transfer application, filed in February 2019 by the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it identified no safety violations during three unannounced inspections in the first three months of 2020 of used fuel operations at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The findings were presented in an April 28 letter from Greg Warnick, chief of the agency’s Reactor […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said this week it identified no safety violations during three unannounced inspections earlier this year of used fuel operations at the retired San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. The findings were presented in an April 28 letter from Greg Warnick chief of the agency’s Reactor Inspection Branch, to Doug […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it intends by the end of 2020 to finish its evaluation of the application to transfer the licenses for the Indian Point Energy Center in New York state from owner Entergy to prospective buyer Holtec International. “Our review could be completed later this year,” according to Bruce Watson, chief of […]

The state of New York on Monday dismissed the call from a pro-nuclear climate organization to prevent the Indian Point Energy Center from closing in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reactor Unit 2 at the upstate nuclear power plant is scheduled to power down permanently by April 30, followed a year later by the […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has signed off on the transfer of the license for the retired Crystal River nuclear power plant in Florida, a key step toward its planned decommissioning within seven years. The reactor license now passes from property owner Duke Energy to decommissioning contractor ADP CR3 – a subsidiary of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners […]

Decommissioning and spent-fuel offloading will continue at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), but with added safety measures to prevent any transmission of COVID-19, according to majority owner Southern California Edison (SCE). “We’re monitoring the situation very closely, on a day-to-day basis, with plans in place to ensure the appropriate levels of safety and […]

By John Stang Telecommuting and social distancing are in play across the nation’s radioactive waste industry as the novel coronavirus 2019 sweeps the United States. The limited number of companies that responded to inquiries this week reported no COVID-19 cases among their workforce and no cutbacks in operations, though they did not rule out slowdowns […]

Energy Harbor Corp. on March 13 said it had reversed its decision to retire the two reactors at its Beaver Valley Power Station in Pennsylvania. The announcement came just weeks after the former FirstEnergy Solutions emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new name and no longer owned by FirstEnergy Corp. Management at the Akron, […]

Energy Harbor Corp. on Friday said it had reversed its decision to retire the two reactors at its Beaver Valley Power Station in Pennsylvania. The announcement came just weeks after the former FirstEnergy Solutions emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy with a new name and no longer owned by FirstEnergy Corp. Management notified regional power transmission […]

Good investment returns on the decommissioning trust funds for the Pilgrim and Indian Point nuclear power complexes helped Entergy improve its financial pictures for 2019. However, the Pilgrim fund is no longer part of Entergy’s corporate finances, Chairman and CEO Leo Denault noted in a Wednesday teleconference with analysts on the New Orleans-based power company’s […]

By John Stang Power company Exelon repeated Tuesday that it still needs additional legislative help from states to keep its nuclear plants open. The message from President and CEO Chris Crane, speaking to financial analysts during a teleconference on the company’s 2019 earnings, echoed concerns he has raised repeatedly – most recently during the company’s […]

By John Stang The New York state Attorney General’s Office and three other parties this week filed petitions for hearings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the proposed license transfer and sale of the Indian Point Energy Center. Along with the Attorney General’s Office, the petitioners are: jointly the town of Cortlandt, village of Buchanan, […]

By John Stang A year into the first-of-its-kind arrangement, decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant appears to be proceeding smoothly, according to the head of a local citizens organization. NorthStar Group Services completed the purchase of Vermont Yankee from power company Entergy in January. The New York City-based demolition specialist assumed ownership of all […]