RadWaste Monitor Vol. 11 No. 27
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RadWaste & Materials Monitor
Article 4 of 6
July 06, 2018

NRC Not Planning “Autopsy” of Oyster Creek Reactor

By ExchangeMonitor

By John Stang

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission aims to collect information to determine whether any aspects of decommissioning the soon-to-retire Oyster Creek nuclear power plant should be studied to obtain long-term knowledge about other reactor operations.

Owner Exelon plans in September to close the single-reactor facility in Lacey Township, N.J., a month ahead of its already expedited shutdown schedule. The facility will then go into “SAFSTOR” mode ahead of final decommissioning closer to the end of the century.

Several speakers on Monday mentioned a possible “autopsy’ of unspecified used reactor parts during an NRC webinar on decommissioning of Oyster Creek. “This kind of activity supports public safety,” said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project at Beyond Nuclear, a national antinuclear and environmental advocacy group.

In April, Beyond Nuclear joined with the organizations New Jersey Clean Water Action and GRAMMES to call for the autopsy — which they described as a “strategic harvesting” by the NRC of safety parts and infrastructure for laboratory testing. At nearly 50 years in age, Oyster Creek houses the oldest U.S. power reactor still in operation. Analysis could offer worthwhile safety data for 21 similar GE Mark I reactors that remain in operation around the United States, the three organizations said.

“The upcoming decommissioning of Oyster Creek presents the NRC and industry with a scientifically measurable watermark for the effect of aging on reactor safety and vulnerability,” Gunter said in an April 10 press release. “Oyster Creek can provide valuable information for nuclear reactors of similar design still running, such as Pennsylvania’s Peach Bottom reactor which is making application to extend its operating license to 80 years.”

The NRC does not have active plans to autopsy components at Oyster Creek, agency spokesman Neil Sheehan said by email Tuesday.

“We are trying to collect information on what might available and of interest to the NRC,” he stated, adding that “Costs and budgetary constraints are key considerations.”

In harvesting parts from other retired reactors, most funding came from the Electric Power Research Institute, the Department of Energy, international groups, or some combination of those entities, Sheehan said. In certain instances the NRC has been a participant and offered limited funding.

“Another consideration is the timing of decommissioning at any given plant,” he said. “If a plant is going to be placed into SAFSTOR, or long-term storage, prior to dismantlement, that may rule out the option of retrieving components in the near term.”

Exelon plans to place the Oyster Creek in SAFSTOR, a mode of decommissioning in which the shuttered reactor is maintained under monitoring, with full cleanup not required for 60 years. On Thursday, the company deferred to the NRC for comments on this matter.

Past autopsies have been conducted on neutron absorber materials and cables at the Zion Nuclear Power Station in Illinois, which is in active decommissioning; on cables at the Crystal River Nuclear Plant in Florida, which is in SAFSTOR; and on concrete and other materials at the decommissioned Zorita reactor near Madrid, Spain, according to the NRC.

The 650-megawatt Oyster Creek reactor became operational on Dec. 1, 1969, along with the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station near Oswego, N.Y. Since Oyster Creek’s’ NRC license was granted first, that made it technically the oldest operating power reactor in the United States.

While its current NRC license authorizes Oyster Creek to operate through 2029, New Jersey officials and Exelon agreed in 2010 to shut down the plant by late 2019 so the company would not have to pay $800 million to install new cooling towers. In early February, Exelon bumped that closure date to October 2018 to help in shifting its workers to other sites and to reduce maintenance costs. More recently, Exelon expedited the date to Sept. 17 to begin defueling.

On May 21, Exelon sent its proposed decommissioning plan to the NRC. Agency staff will hold a public hearing on the subject on July 17 in Lacey Township. Comments can be submitted to the NRC though Sept. 10.

Exelon’s initial plan calls for the site to be totally restored by 2080 with a 62-year cost estimate of $1.46 billion.

“The SAFSTOR option is an economical and radiologically safe plan that allows for normal radioactive decay, produces less waste and exposes our workers to lower levels of radiation. While the NRC allows nuclear operators up to 60 years to return a nuclear facility to previously existing conditions, the timeline could be significantly shorter,” Exelon spokeswoman Maria Hudson said by email.

Exelon anticipates some used reactor fuel will be kept in wet storage to March 2024, and dry fuel storage to last until 2034.  So far, 34 fuel canisters have been moved to dry storage, according to Exelon. Another 40 casks will eventually go to dry storage.

The site would be kept dormant until 2075, when actual decommissioning would begin. Decommissioning is scheduled to end in 2077. The NRC license would be terminated in 2078 and site restoration would be complete by 2080.

The preliminary project estimate is roughly $1.11 billion in 2017 dollars for decommissioning, $290 million for deal with used fuel, and roughly $60 million for site restoration, according to Exelon’s May 21 submission. Exelon has $982 million set aside in its decommissioning trust fund for Oyster Creek, according to the NRC.

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