Company: EAI
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form Type: 10-K
Source: 0000065984-25-000012
Chunk: 398

Company: ENTERGY ARKANSAS, LLC
Filing Date: 2025-02-18
Form: 10-K
Item: Item 7
Chunk 398
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 be placed in SAFSTOR status.  SAFSTOR is decommissioning a facility by placing it in a safe, stable condition that is maintained until it is subsequently decontaminated and dismantled to levels that permit license termination, normally within 60 years from permanent cessation of operations.  A change of assumption regarding either the period of continued operation, the use of a SAFSTOR period, or whether Entergy will continue to hold the plant or the plant is held for sale can change the present value of the asset retirement obligation.

•Cost Escalation Factors - Entergy’s current decommissioning cost studies include an assumption that decommissioning costs will escalate over present cost levels by factors ranging from approximately 2% to 3% annually.  A 50-basis point change in this assumption could change the estimated present value of the decommissioning liabilities by approximately 8% to 15%.  The timing assumption influences the significance of the effect of a change in the estimated inflation or cost escalation rate because the effect increases with the length of time assumed before decommissioning activity ends.

•Spent Fuel Disposal - Federal law requires the DOE to provide for the permanent storage of spent nuclear fuel, and legislation has been passed by Congress to develop a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.  The DOE has not yet begun accepting spent nuclear fuel and is in non-compliance with federal law.  The DOE continues to delay meeting its obligation and Entergy’s nuclear plant owners are continuing to pursue damage claims against the DOE for its failure to provide timely spent fuel storage.  Until a federal site is available, however, nuclear plant operators must provide for interim spent fuel storage on the nuclear plant site, which can require the construction and maintenance of dry cask storage sites or other facilities.  The costs of developing and maintaining these facilities during the decommissioning period can have a 

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Table of ContentsEntergy Corporation and SubsidiariesManagement’s Financial Discussion and Analysis

significant effect (as much as an average of 20% to 30% of total estimated decommissioning costs).  Entergy’s decommissioning studies include cost estimates for spent fuel storage.  These estimates could change in the future, however, based on the expected timing of when the DOE begins to fulfill its obligation to receive and store spent nuclear fuel.  See Note 8 to the financial statements for further discussion of Entergy’s spent nuclear fuel litigation.

•Technology and Regulation - Over the past several years, more practical experience with