An EnergySolutions subsidiary expects to complete decommissioning of the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor in Wisconsin in the first quarter of 2020, according to a revised plan submitted to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The NRC in May OK’d transfer of the license for the reactor from the Dairyland Power Cooperative to LaCrosseSolutions, which is acting as a “steward” in order to expedite decommissioning of the facility that closed in 1987. Dairyland remains responsible for the site’s spent fuel storage facility.
The La Crosse plant was placed into SAFSTOR in 1991, allowing it to be kept in protective storage for up to six decades before decommissioning. It was placed in active decommissioning status in fall 2012, then returned to SAFSTOR in spring 2014 ahead of the license transfer.
Progress in decommission over the years has included removal and disposal of more than 2 million pounds of metallic waste and extraction of the reactor pressure vessel.
The schedule of remaining work, as reported July 1 to the NRC, sets out a list of milestones on the way to completion, including finishing demolition of the plant stacks in the third quarter of this year, completing building demolition in the fourth quarter of 2017, and wrapping up site restoration in the first quarter of 2019. What remains after that appears to be largely paperwork, ending with transferring the license back to Dairyland and NRC termination of the facility license, both in first-quarter 2020.
“Dairyland selected EnergySolutions because the company has demonstrated expertise in decommissioning work. (The La Crosse Solutions arrangement is similar to the model used by EnergySolutions for the Zion Nuclear Power Plant Project located in northeastern Illinois.),” Dairyland spokeswoman Deb Mirasola said by email Tuesday. “The licensed stewardship agreement will expedite decommissioning activities at LACBWR, which is good for Dairyland and our members.”
It was not immediately clear how the schedule differs from the prior timeline. Dairyland Power deferred questions on decommissioning cost and schedule changes to EnergySolutions, which was still looking into the matter as of press time Friday.
From 1996 to 2015, Dairyland incurred $42.4 million in expenses for decommissioning operations, according to Mirasola.
There have been a number of estimates over the years for completing the full project or whatever work remained as dismantlement advanced, according to LaCrosseSolutions’ amended decommissioning plan and post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (D-Plan/PSDAR).
The latest cost estimate to complete radiological decommissioning of the facility is redacted in the report. The amount for site restoration, including the performance baseline and contingency funding, is projected at $2.9 million in 2015 dollars.
The funding would cover labor, personnel, materials, equipment, professional services, waste transport, and disposal. The projection does not cover the already-completed transfer of spent fuel to the plant’s storage pad or other operations that have been finished to date.
The prior cost projection, from March 2013, forecast the cost to complete decommissioning at $90.7 million in 2013 dollars.
While the current level of the trust that funds decommissioning of the La Crosse plant is also redacted in the report, the document says there is sufficient money to cover the work.
Decommissioning the plant’s on-site independent spent fuel storage installation would remain Dairyland’s responsibility. The storage pad would be decommissioned only after the Department of Energy took possession of all spent fuel and Greater-Than-Class C Waste now in storage.
That is likely to be years from now. The Obama administration’s “consent-based” plan for nuclear waste storage calls for establishing one or more interim consolidated sites for spent nuclear fuel by 2025, followed by at least one permanent geologic repository by 2048. Waste Control Specialists in April submitted an application for an interim site in Andrews County, Texas, while Holtec International is expected to file its own application for a New Mexico facility in November.
