The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week notified Entergy that it will carry out a full technical review of the utility’s request to transfer the license for the closed Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to new planned owner NorthStar Group Services.
The April 6 letter cites the completion of the agency’s acceptance review of the Feb. 9 application from Entergy and NorthStar for the license transfer. The acceptance review is intended to determine whether the scope and depth of the technical data in the application is sufficient for the agency to conduct the comprehensive evaluation.
“The NRC staff has reviewed your application … and concluded that it does provide technical information in sufficient detail to enable the NRC staff to complete its detailed technical review and make an independent assessment regarding the acceptability of the request in terms of regulatory requirements and the protection of public health and safety and the environment,” Jack Parrott, senior project manager for the NRC’s Reactor Decommissioning Branch, wrote in the letter to Entergy Nuclear Operations President and CEO Christopher Bakken.
The Vermont Public Service Board must also approve the sale of Vermont Yankee, which closed in December 2014. The companies hope to obtain NRC approval by the end of this year, while the state review could take about another year, Entergy Government Affairs Manager Joseph Lynch said by telephone Monday.
“Our reviews of a license transfer usually take about a year, but there are unique aspects to this proposal that may require more time,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said by email Monday.
If Entergy and NorthStar can meet their schedules, they would complete the sale by the end of 2018. NorthStar, a New York-based nuclear decommissioning specialist, would lead a team starting cleanup at Vermont Yankee by 2021 and complete work by 2030 – over four decades ahead of Entergy’s previous decommissioning schedule.
