Commercial Decommissioning

Members of the public will have an opportunity on Wednesday, May 31, to question Nuclear Regulatory Commission technical staff on the decommissioning of the Fort Calhoun Station nuclear power plant in Nebraska. A public meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the DoubleTree Omaha Downtown hotel, 1616 Dodge St. in Omaha. Staff […]

The state of Vermont is calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to withdraw a series of decisions allowing utility Entergy to use money from the decommissioning trust fund for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station for management of the plant’s spent fuel. The state government has fought this battle for years, worried about draining funds […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear […]

The California Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday conducted the first of eight evidentiary hearings on the request from Pacific Gas & Electric Co. to close the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant within a decade. The utility announced last June that it would not renew the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licenses for the plant’s two reactors when […]

In a decision drawing criticism from activists and lawmakers, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday granted utility Entergy permission to forgo certain post-Fukushima safety measures at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. The regulator ordered a series of safety improvements at U.S. reactor sites after the 2011 triple meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power […]

NorthStar Group Services could wrap up decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station by 2026. That’s according to a new post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR), which the New York company submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission earlier this month. The updated timeline is nearly 50 years earlier than Vermont Yankee owner Entergy had estimated in its […]

A group of surfers wearing hazardous materials protection outfits were scheduled Friday afternoon to protest expansion of nuclear waste storage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California. The protest is scheduled for 1 p.m. local time at the San Diego Superior Court Hall of Justice, according to a press announcement from the nongovernmental […]

Power provider Entergy on Sunday said it has begun the final refueling of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, just over two years before the Massachusetts facility closes for good. Workers began to power down the 45-year-old plant ahead of what will be its 21st and last refueling, according to a press statement. The utility expects to […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no immediate safety concerns at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following yet another operational malfunction, but the regulator is assessing the situation with continued heightened scrutiny at the troubled plant, an agency official said Wednesday. The latest event at the 45-year-old Massachusetts facility occurred on March 31, when operators failed […]

The parties in a lawsuit seeking to block expansion of the dry-storage pad for spent fuel at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) have agreed to settlement talks, plant majority owner Southern California Edison said Friday. The announcement came one week before the lawsuit from a California watchdog organization was scheduled for a hearing in San […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has no immediate safety concerns at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, following yet another operational malfunction, but the regulator is assessing the situation with continued heightened scrutiny at the troubled plant, an agency official said Wednesday. The latest issue for the beleaguered 45-year-old Massachusetts facility occurred on Friday, when operators failed […]

Trial is scheduled for Friday, April 14, in a California watchdog organization’s lawsuit seeking to block a state permit allowing for expansion of the dry-storage pad for spent fuel at the closed San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). The hearing is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. local time before San Diego County Superior Court […]

The Vermont Public Service Board has authorized 11 entities, from a labor union to several state agencies, to intervene in Entergy’s proposed sale of the shuttered Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to a New York company for expedited decommissioning. The latest, and seemingly last, approved intervenor is the Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi, on March 24. […]

The parties in the legal battle over the $4.7 billion settlement for the early closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California have selected a mediator as they seek to resolve the case. The “meet and confer” parties – SONGS’ primary owners Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. and […]

Massachusetts state lawmakers on Tuesday joined local protesters in calling on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to immediately shut down Entergy’s troubled Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Despite the appeal Tuesday night during a public meeting in Plymouth, the NRC maintained that the 45-year-old plant, which has undergone a series of operational failures and unplanned shutdowns dating […]

Utility Southern California Edison (SCE) said Monday it would receive the lion’s share of a $125 million arbitration decision against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries over two faulty replacement steam generators that in 2013 forced the permanent closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). SCE is the plant’s majority owner with minority owners San Diego Gas […]

Allowing utility Entergy to apply money designated for decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to spent reactor fuel operations at the shuttered facility would create no significant environmental effect, Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff said in a recent draft finding. This is the latest development in the battle between the state of Vermont and […]

Staff from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be in Plymouth, Mass., on March 21 for a public meeting with utility Entergy on the findings of the agency’s special inspection and separate annual review of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Entergy plans to close the facility on May 31, 2019, but a number of local organizations want shutdown to […]

Utility Southern California Edison (SCE) said Monday it would receive the lion’s share of a $125 million decision against Mitsubishi Heavy Industries over the failure of two replacement steam generators that in 2013 forced the permanent closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). SCE co-owned SONGS with San Diego Gas & Electric and the […]

Allowing utility Entergy to apply part of its trust fund for decommisioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to operations involving irradiated fuel at the site would create no significant environmental effect, according to a draft finding last week from Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff. The NRC in June 2015 approved Entergy’s request to use the […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts will remain in Column 4 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Action Matrix, the regulator said last week in its annual assessment of the beleaguered plant. “While the plant remains in Column 4, the NRC will continuously assess Pilgrim’s performance to evaluate the need for additional regulatory action up […]

Vermont Attorney General Thomas J. Donovan Jr. on Tuesday vowed to protect state taxpayers by intervening in the Vermont Public Service Board’s review of Entergy’s pending sale of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. “At first glance, it looks like a good deal if it will get the site […]

Vermont Attorney General Thomas J. Donovan Jr. on Tuesday vowed to protect state taxpayers by intervening in the Vermont Public Service Board’s review of Entergy’s pending sale of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant to decommissioning specialist NorthStar Group Services. “At first glance, it looks like a good deal if it will get the site […]

Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will remain in Column 4 of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Action Matrix, the regulator said last week in its annual assessment of the beleaguered plant. “While the plant remains in Column 4, the NRC will continuously assess Pilgrim’s performance to evaluate the need for additional regulatory action up to and […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday approved Entergy’s request to transfer the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant’s operating license and estimated $700 million decommissioning trust fund to Exelon. The decision marks the final federal approval required for Entergy to complete its $110 million sale of FitzPatrick to Exelon, which will allow the struggling 41-year-old upstate […]

U.S. Southern California Edison (SCE) is on pace to complete its independent spent fuel storage installation expansion at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) by 2019, SCE Vice President Tom Palmisano said recently. Palmisano appeared earlier this month before the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel, which serves as a liaison between SCE and the […]

Southern California Edison (SCE) is on pace to complete its independent spent fuel storage installation expansion at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) by 2019, SCE Vice President Tom Palmisano said recently. Palmisano appeared earlier this month before the San Onofre Community Engagement Panel, which serves as a liaison between SCE and the public. […]

Residents in Massachusetts are petitioning Gov. Charlie Baker to support expeditious transfer of spent fuel at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to dry storage. Cape Downwinders — a group of residents from Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket – has been circulating a petition to advance advisory questions to local ballots this spring and fall […]

U.S. Edison International said Tuesday it recorded net income of $345 million, or $1.06 per share, for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to a net loss of $79 million, or $0.24 per share, in the same period for 2015.  Based in Rosemead, Calif., Edison International is the parent company of Southern California Edison (SCE), […]