The Omaha, Neb., Public Power District (OPPD) on Monday announced it had hired nuclear services firm EnergySolutions to support decommissioning of the retired Fort Calhoun Station power plant.
EnergySolutions will provide “technical and specialized project expertise,” while OPPD personnel will manage the overall decommissioning, according to a press release from the utility. Additional details regarding the division of responsibilities were not immediately available. The companies also did not discuss the value or term of the contract.
The pressurized water reactor facility 19 miles outside of Omaha closed in October 2016 after more than 43 years of service. The Omaha Public Power District initially placed the plant into SAFSTOR mode, under which full decommissioning can be delayed for up to six decades. But last fall the utility decided to shift to active decommissioning, which it says should save $200 million and shave decades off the project timeline.
Under SAFSTOR, decommissioning was due to be completed around 2066. That is now anticipated by the mid-2020s, OPPD said Monday. A utility presentation last September placed the end date at around 2028.
Under SAFSTOR, OPPD estimated the total cost for license termination, site restoration, and spent fuel management at $1.295 billion in current-year dollars. The projection for active decommissioning was $1.083 billion.
Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions was already providing decommissioning and radiological waste management services for Fort Calhoun. It will now expand its on-site and off-site assistance, the press release says.
“We appreciate the confidence OPPD has in EnergySolutions to work with the Fort Calhoun workforce to safely decommission the facility,” EnergySolutions President and CEO Ken Robuck said in the company’s own announcement. “We are confident this partnership will have tremendous success in safely decommissioning the facility on budget and schedule.”
