Entergy on Monday began the last refueling and maintenance outage at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in upstate New York, ahead of the facility’s planned retirement in 2021.
The New Orleans-based power company said the outage for reactor Unit 3 would last several weeks, but did not provide a more specific schedule. It cited a $70 million price tag for the work. The plant workforce of roughly 1,000 Entergy personnel will temporarily be expanded by 900 contract workers, according to an Entergy press release.
Among the planned maintenance work: inspecting the reactor head, along with baffle bolts on a reactor liner; replacing a number of pumps and motors, along with other equipment; and preventive maintenance on the plant’s diesel generator.
“The investments we are making at Unit 3 over the next several weeks demonstrate Entergy’s continued commitment to the highest standards of safety and reliability,” Tony Vitale, Entergy site vice president for Indian Point, said in the release. “Our dedicated employees, whether they have worked at the site for four years or 40 years, are focused on making the last refueling our best ever. The nearly 60-year history of safe and reliable operations at the site is our legacy.”
Entergy bought the reactors from their prior owners in 2000 and 2001. In January 2017, citing declining revenue and higher operating expenses, it announced plans to retire Unit 2 by the end of April 2020 and Unit 3 a year later.
During Entergy’s quarterly earnings conference call in February, Chairman and CEO Leo Denault said management this year hopes to select a buyer for the facility. The deal would not be completed until after Indian Point closes.
In line with other deals from Entergy and fellow power company Exelon, the new owner would presumably be in charge of decommissioning and spent fuel management at Indian Point. It would also receive its decommissioning trust fund, the source of any profit in the transaction.
