EnergySolutions to pursue site permit for Kewaunee nuclear unit

EnergySolutions, Salt Lake City, said Tuesday it is planning to seek an Early Site Permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at the shuttered Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin.

The company is collaborating with WEC Energy Group (WEC) to explore new nuclear generation in Wisconsin, EnergySolutions said in a press release. WEC is a Milwaukee-based utility holding company and one of its subsidiaries, We Power, builds and owns power plants.

“With rising energy demand driven by data centers, artificial intelligence and industrial growth, the need for reliable, carbon-free power has never been greater,” EnergySolutions CEO Ken Robuck said in the release. “By bringing our nuclear licensing and project development expertise to the table, we look forward to supporting WEC in the early planning stages for new nuclear generation in Wisconsin.”

EnergySolutions said it and WEC will be working over years on a process that includes initial planning and scoping, detailed environmental and other studies “and ultimately securing NRC permits,” according to the release.

The new nuclear generation will be a “newbuild” and a specific reactor type has not been chosen yet for Kewaunee, an EnergySolutions spokesperson said by email. EnergySolutions said recently it was working on a new nuclear power project in Utah.

“The agency looks forward to beginning discussions on the project with Energy Solutions, as part of our mission to enable the safe use of nuclear technologies,” an NRC spokesperson said in response to an Exchange Monitor inquiry.

In May 2022, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission approved an EnergySolutions request to buy Kewaunee from Dominion Energy and dismantle it. Dominion retired the 555-megawatt Kewaunee in May 2013 after about 40 years of operation.  Dominion put the spent fuel into dry cask storage in 2017.

Kewaunee, a pressurized water reactor, was previously licensed to run until December 2033.