Diverting some money within the decommissioning trust fund for the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts would not undermine the intended function of the account, according to staff at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Agency staff on July 1 issued an environmental assessment and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for Entergy’s application for a regulatory exemption allowing it to use a portion of the trust for spent fuel management and site restoration.
“The NRC has completed its evaluation of the proposed action and concludes that there is reasonable assurance that adequate funds are available in the Trust to complete all activities associated with decommissioning and spent fuel management and site restoration,” according to an agency notice in the Federal Register.
Without an exemption from the NRC, nuclear plant owners can only use the trusts for work that meets the legal definition of decommissioning: removing a site safely from operations, with radioactivity levels sufficiently low to release the property for termination of the license and restricted or unrestricted use.
In its November 2018 application for the exemption, Entergy said the nearly $1.1 billion value of the trust as of the end of that year would be sufficient to cover license termination, spent fuel management, and site restoration expenses through 2080.
In the application, Entergy said it intended to put Pilgrim into SAFSTOR upon closure, under which final decommissioning can be delayed for up to six decades. The single-reactor power plant on Cape Cod closed on May 31.
By the time of the exemption application, Entergy had announced plans to sell the facility to Holtec International for expedited decommissioning within a decade. Assuming approval of the license transfer by the NRC, the new owner would also take possession of the decommissioning trust. The federal agency is expected around the end of July to issue its decision on the license transfer.
