Decommissioning is the process by which nuclear power plants are safely retired from service. The progression involves decontaminating the facility to reduce residual radioactivity, moving all used nuclear fuel from wet storage into dry storage, dismantling the structures, removing contaminated materials to appropriate disposal facilities and releasing the property for other uses. The owner remains accountable to the NRC until decommissioning has been completed and the agency has terminated its license.
In accordance with NRC regulations, decommissioning must be completed within 60 years of the plant ceasing operations. The nuclear site owner (or Licensee) may choose from three decommissioning strategies: DECON, SAFSTOR or ENTOMB. Historically, some nuclear plant owners have selected to place the plant in SAFSTOR, the NRC-approved option that allows the nuclear plant to be safely shuttered for several decades before decommissioning and site restoration is completed. Holtec’s approach to decommissioning and site restoration is to acquire shuttered nuclear plants and to safely and efficiently complete decommissioning activities decades sooner than if the previous plant owner were to continue to own the site.
The completion of decommissioning will result in the release of all portions of the site from the current NRC license, with the exception of the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) – the area where spent nuclear fuel is stored in dry casks until the U.S. Department of Energy transfers the spent fuel offsite. Holtec has a pending application with the NRC for a Consolidated Interim Storage Facility in New Mexico, which could eventually store spent nuclear fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants.
Holtec’s commitment is to complete decommissioning of the sites safely and efficiently so that the land occupied by the site may be repurposed for an alternative use so local jobs can be created, and the town can regain lost tax revenue.