Energy technology company Holtec International on Friday took a key step toward buying another soon-to-close nuclear power plant for decommissioning.
The plant in this case is the Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York, which is scheduled for permanent retirement by the end of April 2021. Holtec and facility owner Entergy on Friday submitted their license transfer application for the facility to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The federal regulator must approve transfer of Indian Point’s reactor and spent fuel storage licenses before the sale can happen.
“Holtec’s plan to accelerate the decommissioning schedule, which provides the potential for site redevelopment decades sooner than if Entergy continued to own the facility, is good news for the local community,” Chris Bakken, Entergy chief nuclear officer and executive vice president for nuclear operations, said in a press release. “As part of the agreement between the companies, Holtec will begin the decommissioning process promptly upon taking ownership and will provide job opportunities for more than 300 of our current employees who want to remain in the region and continue to work at the site.”
The Holtec release says the companies hope for a decision from the NRC by November 2020. They have said they hope to complete the sale in the third quarter of 2021, after Indian Point is retired.
An NRC spokesman on Friday said agency staff had not had time yet to go over the application in detail, so he could only say the review would begin with the standard acceptance check of the filing. That generally takes about 30 days, though in this case the NRC also must schedule around federal holidays, he noted.
As has been its practice in deals to buy power plants in Massachusetts and New Jersey, Holtec did not release any financial terms of the sale. If it goes through, the Camden, N.J., company would assume all responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management on the property. It would also own the decommissioning trusts for the reactors, an anticipated source of profit once the cleanup work is done.
Indian Point began operations in 1962. Reactor Unit 1 closed in 1974. New Orleans-based power company Entergy announced in 2017 it would retire Unit 2 by April 30, 2020, and Unit 3 a year after that. The planned sale to Holtec was announced in April.
Holtec would assume ownership of the entire facility. Managers said during an October presentation to the NRC that the company anticipates completing decommissioning by 2036. The company intends to submit its post-shutdown decommissioning activities report and decommissioning cost estimate for Indian Point to the NRC before the close of 2019. That paperwork will feature specific schedule and cost projections for decommissioning, the press release says.
All spent fuel at Indian Point would be expected to be in dry storage within three years of closure. The release indicates the radioactive waste could ultimately be shipped to the consolidated interim storage facility Holtec plans in southeastern New Mexico for used fuel from nuclear power plants. That facility also needs an NRC license, and faces stiff resistance from state leaders in New Mexico, but Holtec hopes to have it operational by the early 2020s.
Holtec has already received NRC license-transfer approval this year for the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey and the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts. It is now the owner of both plants, previously owned by Exelon and Entergy.
The New Jersey deal appeared to raise little opposition, which has not been the case in Massachusetts. The commonwealth Attorney General’s Office and local advocacy group Pilgrim Watch both petitioned the NRC for hearings on the license transfer. Their primary concerns were the adequacy of funding to complete decommissioning and whether the NRC had conducted a mandatory environmental assessment or supplemental environmental impact statement of the license transfer.
The NRC has not ruled on those requests, even though the license transfer and sale both went through in August. The commonwealth subsequently took several measures intended to reverse the agency’s decision, including a federal lawsuit.
If the Indian Point sale is finalized, its corporate structure would be identical to those for the New Jersey and Massachusetts properties.
Subsidiary Holtec Decommissioning International would be the plant’s licensed operator, with actual decommissioning conducted by Comprehensive Decommissioning International, Holtec’s joint venture with Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin.
Entergy and Holtec have also petitioned the the New York state Public Service Commission for a decision either relinquishing jurisdiction in the matter or approving the ownership transfer.
“Holtec is committed to working with the community surrounding Indian Point and has already met with elected officials at all levels, including congressional staff. Holtec remains committed to further discussions where we will continue to educate the public and elected officials on our decommissioning plans and commitments,” Holtec President and CEO Kris Singh said in the release. “We will not leave work unfinished nor leave the site in a dormant state. We are going to do what’s right for the local community and New York by conducting the safe and efficient decommissioning of Indian Point that will create a safe environment that enables the land to be suitable for reuse.”
Holtec also intends to buy Entergy’s Palisades Power Plant in Michigan, which is scheduled for closure in 2022. The company’s have not applied for NRC regulatory approval for that deal yet.
