Staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission said in a notice Tuesday it plans to approve the license transfer for the retired Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts.
The license transfer will enable owner Entergy to sell the single-reactor facility on Cape Cod to Holtec International for decommissioning.
Staff expects to formally approve the transfer on Aug. 21, less than three months after its May 31 closure. That delay is intended to give the commissioners enough time to provide any direction to staff, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
“The NRC staff has concluded that Holtec and (Holtec Decommissioning International) are financially and technically qualified to own the Pilgrim nuclear power plant and carry out the decommissioning of the facility,” Sheehan wrote in an email. “Prior to reaching this decision, the NRC staff carefully reviewed: Holtec and HDI’s technical and financial qualifications; the adequacy of the plant’s decommissioning trust fund; and the companies’ ability to obtain the funds necessary to cover the cost of spent nuclear fuel management and on-site spent fuel storage until it is removed.”
The actual sale will follow the license transfer, according to Holtec spokesman Joe Delmar. Entergy and Holtec have been mum about the purchase price.
On Wednesday, the four NRC commissioners unanimously rejected a request from Massachusetts to stay the license transfer proceeding for up to 90 days to allow time for settlement talks over concerns raised by the commonwealth about the deal.
Massachusetts and the advocacy group Pilgrim Watch have both petitioned the NRC for intervention and a hearing in the license transfer. If approved by the commission, they would be authorized to present contentions. Both have questioned whether Holtec would have enough money to finish decommissioning and have said that the parties have not conducted the necessary environmental review.
“From financing to emergency response planning, we have asked for answers and we have received only unacceptable silence,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement Tuesday. “More hearings and opportunities for public input are needed to resolve critical outstanding questions – until that happens, this license transfer should not be approved. The NRC should not put nuclear industry timelines above the statutory requirement for a process that includes the opportunity for public input and involvement.”
Holtec says it can largely complete cleanup at Pilgrim in eight years at a total cost of $1.134 billion, covering decommissioning, site restoration, and spent fuel management. The work would be carried out by Comprehensive Decommissioning International, a joint venture between Holte and Montreal-based engineering company SNC-Lavain. The decommissioning trust for Pilgrim, which would pass from Entergy to Holtec once the sale is completed, held $1.05 billion as of Oct. 31, 2018.
Holtec aims to buy several power plants that have closed or are nearly retirement. On July 1, it acquired the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station previously owned by Exelon.
