Commercial Decommissioning

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Petition Review Board recently agreed to review a request to determine whether FirstEnergy Solutions should be found in breach of its federal requirement to ensure it can fund decommissioning of three nuclear power plants scheduled for closure in coming years. The NRC sent a memo to that effect on Aug. 2 […]

Exelon and Holtec international plan by Friday to submit their application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the transfer of the license for the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey. The Chicago-based power company aims to sell the single-reactor facility in Lacey Township to Holtec, which would then be responsible for decommissioning and spent […]

FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) said Wednesday it has submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission its plans for training workers to supervise the removal and storage of spent nuclear fuel at three nuclear power reactors facing shutdown in 2020 and 2021. This is a necessary step for FES to decommission its four reactors at three sites […]

Human error is the apparent cause in for a recent mishap in moving used fuel to a storage pad at the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) in California. Holtec International, of Camden, N.J., is moving all remaining spent fuel at the plant from wet to dry storage under contract to SONGS majority owner […]

All spent fuel at the retired Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station has been moved to dry storage, owner Entergy announced Thursday. The transfer campaign, conducted by Holtec International, began in June 2017. It involved removing nearly 3,000 sent fuel assemblies from wet storage and placing them in 45 storage casks, which were then transported to […]

Power company Entergy on Wednesday announced a steep drop in earnings for the second quarter, even as it unveiled plans to unload two soon-to-close nuclear power plants. As-reported earnings fell from $410 million ($2.27 per share) in second-quarter 2017 to $245 million ($1.34 per share) in the latest reporting period. Operational earnings, on a non-generally […]

NextEra Energy Resources plans to shut down Iowa’s sole nuclear power reactor in 2020, the latest in a series of announced shutdowns of atomic energy plants around the nation. The 615-megawatt Duane Arnold Energy Center boiling water reactor, about 10 miles outside of Cedar Rapids, has a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to operate through 2034 […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved exempting the Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey from some emergency planning requirements following its closure this fall. In individual votes cast between July 5 and July 11, four of the five commissioners approved Oyster Creek owner Exelon’s entire request to forgo some emergency preparedness […]

By John Stang The California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved Thursday a settlement agreement on the division of costs for the premature shutdown on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The five commissioners followed the June 22 recommendation from CPUC Administrative Law Judge Darcie Houck in favor of the January agreement between the plant’s primary […]

To Mayor Al Hill of Zion, Ill., H.R. 3970 is greatly needed for his town of 25,000 to economically recover from hosting a used nuclear fuel storage site. That bill was introduced last year by U.S. Rep. Bradley Schneider (D-Ill.), whose district includes Zion. The measure was referred to the House Energy and Commerce environment […]

The Department of Energy expects by Sept. 30 to answer questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding the requested 20-year extension of the license for storage of radioactive waste from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant at the Idaho National Laboratory. That would meet the deadline set by the NRC in its Jan. 29 […]

EnergySolutions in May signed a $9.45 million contract to complete dismantling and decommissioning of the long-retired Southwest Experimental Fast Oxide Reactor (SEFOR) facility in Arkansas. This final leg of the remediation includes placing the reactor itself into a special container in October. The reactor is one of the few structures left on the site, according […]

The Vermont Public Utility Commission (VPUC) on Friday said it would not issue a final ruling on the proposed sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant until after the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides whether to approve the transfer of the site license from owner Entergy to planned buyer NorthStar Group Services. In […]

The parties to the planned sale of the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant hope to secure state regulatory approval within a month after the federal government signs off on the deal, according to a filing this week. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to decide sometime in the third quarter of this year […]

By John Stang A California Public Utilities Commission administrative judge has recommended approval of a settlement agreement on the division of costs for the premature shutdown on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. Judge Darcie Houck recommended June 22 that the CPUC approve the January agreement between the plant’s primary owners and several public watchdog […]

By John Stang Executives with power company Entergy said Tuesday bringing the struggling Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts up to operational snuff will not affect its scheduled closure by June 1, 2019. During a briefing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Commissioner David Wright asked Entergy officials to rate the likelihood of the boiling-water reactor […]

Executives with power company Entergy said Tuesday bringing the struggling Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts up to snuff will not affect its scheduled closure date by June 1, 2019. During a briefing of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday, Commissioner David Wright asked Entergy officials to rate the likelihood of the boiling-water reactor being […]

The state of California should by the first quarter of 2019 give formal approval for major decommissioning to begin on the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), an executive with the decommissioning general contractor said on June 8. SONGS Decommissioning Solutions, a partnership of AECOM and EnergySolutions, expects the California State Lands Commission will by the […]

The Nuclear Energy Initiative is largely satisfied with the set of proposed federal regulations for power reactors making the transition from operations to decommissioning, a senior executive said last week. “Overall, we’re pretty pleased with the proposal as it came out. Our main goal obviously was just to codify …  everything that required an exemption,” […]

By John Stang The California state Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would allow Pacific Gas & Electric to charge its ratepayers to retain personnel at its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant. The bill, which passed the Senate by vote of 31-4, is now in the California General Assembly. “This community has borne the risk of having […]

NorthStar Group Services on Monday told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission it will have sufficient funds to both decommission the retired Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and manage its spent fuel. The New York City company was responding to the agency’s latest request for additional information as it reviews the application to transfer the NRC license […]

By John Stang The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission might not sign off on the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant until the third quarter of the year, according to the head of prospective buyer NorthStar Group Services. NorthStar CEO Scott State made that observation on May 11 during an evidentiary hearing in the […]

Entergy and NorthStar Group Services are delaying providing extra financial information to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the proposed Vermont Yankee sale by little more than two weeks. Approval by NRC and the Vermont Public Utility Commission are required for the sale to proceed. The NRC has questions about whether Entergy and NorthStar have […]

By John Stang FirstEnergy Solutions contended Monday that the shutdown of four nuclear power reactors in Ohio and Pennsylvania will hurt the long-term energy picture for the area covered by transmission clearinghouse PJM Interconnection. The utility was responding to PJM’s report that day that “resource retirements” would not undermine the reliability of its power grid. […]

The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station’s (SONGS) situation was seemingly a nonfactor in Edison International’s first-quarter balance sheet for 2018. In a Tuesday conference call on the California-based utility’s latest earnings, the retired nuclear power plant barely came up as analysts and Edison International executives discussed wildfire recovery costs and an ongoing rate case. “With […]

Washington Closure Hanford and the Department of Justice received a final extension Friday to seal a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit alleging the former Hanford Site contractor knowingly awarded small business subcontracts to front companies. Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. stayed the case in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington until a June 8 hearing, […]

FirstEnergy Solutions formally confirmed to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday that it plans to permanently shut down three nuclear power plants unless it gets government help. The three-paragraph message simply certifies FirstEnergy’s March 28 announcement that it would end power production at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, by May 31, […]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved Pacific Gas & Electric’s request to withdraw its application to renew the licenses for its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant reactors. The utility in 2009 filed to renew the licenses for Units 1 and 2 at the San Luis Obispo County facility, which respectively began operations in 1985 […]

Washington Closure Hanford and the Department of Justice received a final extension Friday to seal a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit alleging the former Hanford Site contractor knowingly awarded small business subcontracts to front companies. Judge Sal Mendoza Jr. stayed the case in U.S. District Court in Eastern Washington until a June 8 hearing, […]

The U.S. Department of Justice appears to be running out of patience after failing to reach a settlement agreement by a deadline Friday in a lawsuit with Washington Closure Hanford, a former Hanford Site prime cleanup contractor. The Department of Justice filed a civil lawsuit against Washington Closure, alleging it knowingly awarded small business subcontracts […]