The Nuclear Regulatory Commission denied a nuclear watchdog’s request for a hearing regarding the sale of Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant’s Unit 2 reactor, according to a memorandum published by the agency Friday.
The watchdog, Three Mile Island Alert, Inc., wanted the NRC to take a closer look at the transfer of the Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) license to TMI-2 Solutions, a subsidiary of EnergySolutions, from the FirstEnergy Companies. The group questioned the decommissioning company’s ability to finance a complete decommissioning.
The NRC said no and, marking another milestone towards ultimate end of one of the better-known U.S. nuclear plants, dismissed the group’s petition on the grounds that it lacked “admissible contention,” according to the memo.
The FirstEnergy Companies applied to transfer the license of Three Mile Island’s Unit 2 reactor in Nov. 2019 and the NRC approved the license transfer in Dec. 2020.TMI-2 Solutions projected that the Unit 2 reactor would be completely decommissioned by 2037 at an estimated cost of $1.06 billion.
Three Mile Island Alert argued that TMI-2 Solutions did not “show adequate decommissioning financial assurance and/or adequate funding for spent nuclear fuel management,” or “contemplate a period of safe storage” as part of its estimates, as required by law.
The watchdog group also argued that TMI-2 Solutions did not leave room in its financial plan for unexpected costs such as decommissioning delays or “the likely existence of greater contamination” than current site surveys suggest.
Eric Epstein, chairman of Three Mile Island Alert Inc., told RadWaste Monitor in an email that the NRC did not review his group’s filing prior to dismissing their petition. The decision was “like a jury rendering a verdict without looking at any evidence,” Epstein said.
