GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy on Tuesday said it had secured a contract for dismantlement, segmentation, and packing of the reactor internals and reactor pressure vessel for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
This is the Wilmington, N.C., company’s second contract for this work at a nuclear plant acquired by Holtec International for decommissioning.
The award comes directly from Comprehensive Decommissioning International, the Holtec joint venture with Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin that is in charge of decommissioning the boiling-water reactor on Cape Cod.
Then-owner Entergy closed Pilgrim on May 31. In August, it completed the sale of the facility to energy technology company Holtec, which assumed all responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management.
A GE Hitachi spokesman said Wednesday that terms of the contract are not being released.
The segmentation work will be conducted fully underwater via the primary segmentation system GE Hitachi designed with decommissioning technology provider REI Nuclear, of Columbia, S.C., which it acquired in December 2018, according to a company press release.
Last July, GE Hitachi received a contract from CDI for the same work at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey. Holtec bought that nearly 50-year-old facility on July 1, close to a year after its September 2018 closure. The new owner says it can complete decommissioning in less than a decade, at an estimated cost of $885 million.
Holtec and Entergy in November also filed an application for transfer of the federal licenses for the Indian Point Energy Center in New York State. With approval of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Holtec would acquire and decommission the site’s three reactors. Reactor Unit 1 was retired in 1974, while Units 2 and 3 are scheduled for closure by April 30, 2021.
Holtec has also said it intends to buy Entergy’s Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, which is scheduled for closure in 2022.
