Power provider Entergy made a major stride toward building a second independent spent fuel storage installation (ISFSI) at the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station on June 17, after winning a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB). The board’s approval allows a 10-day window for stakeholders to file an appeal.
Entergy plans to move the entirety of Vermont Yankee’s spent nuclear fuel into dry storage by the end of 2020 after 42 years of operations at the plant, which closed in December 2014. The second storage pad will allow the utility to transfer nearly 3,000 spent fuel assemblies into 45 dry casks at a cost of $145 million. The current storage pad contains 13 dry casks. The PSB concluded that construction of the second storage pad “is in the general good of the state of Vermont,” and will not “create any adverse effects on the environment, including aesthetics.”
The board considered three issues raised by interested parties during the review process: whether Entergy has adequately considered alternatives to the storage pad; whether the location of the pad might hinder the plant’s decommissioning timeline and budget; and whether the project might have undue effects on aesthetics, including historic sites, air and water purity, and the natural environment. Entergy has addressed all three issues, the board concluded.
The total cost of decommissioning Vermont Yankee is projected at $1.2 billion; as of December 2015, Entergy had accumulated $595.4 million, though that amount was about $70 million less than the prior year’s amount. The bulk of the decline came from Entergy’s $58 million withdrawal for decommissioning expenses, including employee salaries, plant modification, and construction costs. Entergy in its post-shutdown decommissioning activities report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated that site decommissioning will be completed by 2068, with the company opting for SAFSTOR.
“We’re very pleased about this decision,” Entergy spokesman Marty Cohn said in a telephone interview Monday. “What this will allow us to do is allow us to move all the fuel from the spent fuel pool to dry casks by the end of 2020.”
The final order includes stipulations that Entergy follow Environmental Protection Agency and state regulations concerning waste disposal, as well as acquire a floodplain permit. Cohn said the stipulations are “all things that we had anticipated and support.”
The New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, the most vocal opponent to Entergy’s storage plans, suggested the utility consider underground storage in Windham County, where the plant is located, rather than the above-ground method Entergy has proposed.
The board also concluded that “construction of a second ISFSI storage pad as expeditiously as possible to enable transfer of all of the VY Station’s SNF to dry storage and installation of a backup generator will promote the general good of the State.”
