The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it intends by the end of 2020 to finish its evaluation of the application to transfer the licenses for the Indian Point Energy Center in New York state from owner Entergy to prospective buyer Holtec International.
“Our review could be completed later this year,” according to Bruce Watson, chief of the NRC’s Reactor Decommissioning Branch
However, NRC officials told participants on a webinar addressing Indian Point’s future decommissioning that a date cannot be pinned down yet for the decision.
Entergy owns the three-reactor Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, 24 miles from New York City. Reactor Unit 1 has been closed since 1974. It plans to retire Reactor Unit 2 by April 30 and Unit 3 by April 30, 2021.
The New Orleans-based power company plans to sell the complex to Holtec, which would assume ownership of the decommissioning trust funds for the reactors and all responsibility for decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management. However, the NRC must first approve the transfer of the plant’s reactor and spent fuel storage licenses.
The NRC is still considering whether any hearings will be held on the license transfers, Watson said. While no target dates have yet been set, Indian Point will have to obtain NRC certificates for cessation of operations and for permanent removal of the reactors’ spent nuclear fuel.
Holtec submitted a post-shutdown decommissioning activities report to the NRC in December. However, the federal agency won’t start reviewing it until the license transfer issue is resolved. Public meetings will be held on the PSDAR.
Decommissioning the three reactors is projected to cost $2.3 billion. Holtec says it can complete the job in 15 years.
