Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
10/24/2014
The Vermont Yankee decommissioning project will cost an estimated $1.24 billion, up from previous estimates of approximately $1 billion, according to Entergy’s latest site assessment study released late last week. Entergy completed the study as a way to consolidate and begin discussions with the state of Vermont over the history and radiological condition of the site, the description of the decommissioning process, the description of steps required to move spent nuclear fuel to dry, information on the likely cost and schedule of decommissioning, and the timeline for the submittal of decommissioning documents to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Entergy has chosen to use the SAFESTOR method of decommissioning, which enables the plant to sit for up to 60 years before major tear-down work begins, but the utility, in an agreement from late last year, assured the state it would only stay in SAFESTOR until the decommissioning trust fund accrued enough interest to cover the cost of work.
According to the site assessment report, the trust fund could reach the necessary level to begin work in the 2040’s. “The numerous variables which must be taken into consideration (costs, interest rate/fund growth, NRC rulings, etc.) result in a wide range of outcomes as it relates to when the decontamination and dismantlement phase and site restoration will be complete,” the report said. “For example, cost analyses that include expected recoveries from the Federal Government for its failure to remove VYNPS’ spent nuclear fuel suggest that a much earlier date, potentially as early as the 2040s, is possible for the commencement of dismantling and decontamination activities.”
The report also indicated that Entergy will finish the transfer of spent fuel to dry cask storage by late 2020, ahead of initial plans. Entergy will also submit its official Decommissioning Cost Estimate and Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report to the NRC by the end of this year, most likely in December, the report said.
Vermont Anticipates 2030’s Start Date
According to Vermont Public Service Department Commissioner Chris Recchia, the increased price tag for the cleanup did not surprise him. “The price is not surprising,” Recchia told RW Monitor this week. “It was pretty much in the ball park of what I thought it was going to be. We will work with them to continue to see about how to keep this moving forward as quickly as possible. I recognize from an NRC standpoint they are under certain constraints that indicate this is going to take a lot longer than any of us hoped it would take, but they also made their commitments not to be suggesting that this be put into SAFESTOR for 60 years, as they are allowed to under regulations.”
Recchia went so far as to predict that the 2040’s start date listed in the report was overly-conservative. He believes a more realistic time frame is in the 2030’s, with a chance at late 2020’s. “I think we can do better than 2040’s,” Recchia said. “I think that’s based on the NRC’s constraints of only assuming a two percent rate increase in the fund per year. They have been averaging about five or six percent per year. I do think we can do better than that. I am quite confident we can get in the 2030’s, and hopeful we can get into the late 2020’s. The main thing for me is that Entergy has committed to moving forward with decontamination and dismantlement within 120 days of seeing that the fund is adequate.”
Entergy announced last year that it would be entering premature shutdown of the Vermont Yankee station at the end of 2014, despite receiving a 20 year license extension from the NRC. The company cited economic factors as the basis for the shutdown, although Entergy and Vermont have been engaged in a contentious court battle over its licensing. Vermont and Entergy came to an agreement at the end of last year that stipulated the utility will place the plant in SAFESTOR only until its decommissioning fund collects enough money to cover the costs of decommissioning. Previously, Entergy had said it would use the full 60 years granted under NRC regulations of SAFESTOR, but in this agreement, the decommissioning of the plant will occur much sooner than 60 years. The agreement also includes a cash payment from Entergy into a fund dedicated to site restoration, as well as payments to steady the economic impact of the local community.