Massachusetts’ government on Tuesday pressed the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for “a stay of the effectiveness” of agency staff’s approval of the license transfer and decommissioning trust fund exemption for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.
Former owner Entergy completed the sale of the retired single-reactor plant to Holtec International on Aug. 26 after receiving NRC approval for the transfer of Pilgrim’s operational and spent-fuel storage licenses. The agency also authorized Holtec to use the plant’s decommissioning trust for spent fuel operations.
In a stay request Tuesday, the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said Holtec erroneously claimed it could complete decommissioning with only the money in the trust dedicated to that work at Pilgrim, that NRC staff breached federal regulations and law in approving the license transfer, and that expedited decommissioning in this case could pose a threat to the public interest.
“For the foregoing reasons, the Commonwealth requests that the Commission grant this Application for a Stay pending administrative and/or judicial review,” according to the commonwealth’s filing.
Massachusetts and the activist group Pilgrim Watch in February separately filed for intervention and a hearing in the NRC’s license transfer proceeding. The NRC did not rule on the petitions prior to authorizing the license transfers and trust fund exemptions, even as Massachusetts made clear it would seek a stay of the actions. The NRC is allowed to retroactively nullify that decision if it can be persuaded to do so.
The Attorney General’s Office contended the decommissioning trust fund for Pilgrim could be underfunded by between $56 million and $768 million. It cast doubt on Holtec assumption that the Energy Department would meet its legal mandate to take the plant’s spent fuel from 2030 to 2062.
“A promise of expeditious decommissioning and site restoration, of course, means nothing if Holtec lacks the financial and technical wherewithal to fulfill it,” the Massachusetts filing says.
Holtec predicts a $1.134 billion decommissioning budget, with slightly more than $1 billion currently in its trust. It says it can complete the job in eight years.
