Jeremy L. Dillon
RW Monitor
5/23/2014
As part of efforts to move spent nuclear fuel at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant to dry cask storage, owner Entergy plans to submit a formal request to the Vermont Public Service Board by the end of June. As part of the agreement between the state of Vermont and Entergy to guarantee an as-soon-as-possible decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee station, Entergy had pledged to begin the initiative to move the spent nuclear fuel from the pools by June 30. Entergy said it plans to build “a large, flat concrete pad within Vermont Yankee’s protected area, which will be located adjacent to a similar pad approved by the PSB in 2006 and now in use.”
Entergy is seeking a Certificate of Public Good from Vermont’s PSB that would enable construction to begin. Should regulatory approval move forward as planned, Entergy said, the new pad could be completed by 2017. “With a reasonable period for regulatory review and public input, it is likely that construction could be completed in 2017 and the transfer of all Vermont Yankee spent fuel from wet storage to dry could be completed in 2020,” the company said. “We look forward to presenting our plan for this important project both to the public and to the regulators.”
Construction Money to Come from Decommissioning Fund
Construction funds for the new pad would come from Vermont Yankee’s decommissioning funds. Entergy said it would seek an exemption from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would enable Vermont Yankee to tap into that fund for spent fuel pool management, similar to the exemptions currently being sought by the Kewaunee Power Station in Wisconsin and the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California. “Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee expects to use funds from the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust (NDT) to pay for costs associated with the management of spent fuel, including the cost of moving spent fuel from the spent fuel pool to dry cask storage ($150m-$175m),” Entergy spokesman Rob Williams said in a written response this week. “Spent fuel management is part of the decommissioning process and the NDT was always the intended source for payment of costs associated with that work. The funds would initially come from the Nuclear Decommissioning Trust Fund and then be reimbursed by the U.S. Department of Energy.”
