PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Companies specializing in nuclear demolition and radioactive waste storage are buying up aging U.S. reactors and promising to decommission them in dramatically less time than their utility owners had planned — eight years instead of 60 in some cases.
Viewed by experts as an emerging trend in the nuclear power industry, the sales of these retired or soon-to-be-retired reactors present a paradox for residents, state officials and nuclear watchdogs.
Once a reactor is shut down, the radioactive mess left behind must be cleaned up, spent nuclear fuel packed for long-term storage and the plant dismantled. Few argue that decommissioning a facility within a matter of years is less preferable than the decades-long approach called "safe storage," in which shuttered plants are left dormant while radioactive elements slowly decay.
Yet the speedier approach raises questions about whether the timetables are consistent with environmentally safe cleanups, and whether the buyers have the experience and money to manage multiple projects.
"When it was 60 years, we were up in arms that it was 60 years," said Janet Tauro, chair of New Jersey Clean Water Action, referring to initial plans for decommissioning Oyster Creek in Forked River. The nation's oldest commercial reactor closed last year, shortly after owner Exelon Generation announced the sale to Holtec International.
"Then we hear it's going to be expedited to eight years," Tauro said. "It's great to get it over with, but are there corners that are going be cut?"
Holtec, a privately held, global corporation that manufactures giant containers for storing spent radioactive fuel after it's removed from reactor cores, also has deals in place to buy several plants owned by Entergy Corp., including Pilgrim in historic Plymouth, Massachusetts, closing May 31; Palisades in Covert, Michigan, slated for closure in 2022; and two reactors expected to close within two years at Indian Point in Buchanan, New York, according to public statements and documents filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
"Our commitment to the nuclear industry includes taking ownership of shut-down nuclear plants so that we can safely and efficiently decommission the plants so that the land can be returned to productive use," Holtec spokeswoman Joy Russell said in an email.
The company did not make officials available for interview, but defended its 30-year nuclear industry track record.
The proposed sales await NRC approval, with decisions expected in coming weeks and months, agency spokesman Neil Sheehan said. In March, the NRC asked Holtec for additional guarantees that its decommissioning subsidiary has sufficient resources to handle multiple cleanups simultaneously.
In a response letter, Holtec outlined a plan for corporate oversight of the decommissioning projects and said "dedicated leadership" at each site would include some current employees who will remain during the transition.
In legal briefs filed with the NRC, Massachusetts officials, including Attorney General Maura Healey, have expressed skepticism about Holtec's plan to "decommission Pilgrim on an expedited schedule never before achieved," despite having never owned a nuclear plant nor managed a decommissioning from start to finish.
Holtec executives tout "cutting-edge technologies" that speed the removal of superhot spent fuel from the reactor pool. Fuel that can no longer sustain a nuclear reaction remains radioactive and still generates substantial heat.
Under federal protocols, spent fuel rods are typically placed in pools filled with water and reinforced with concrete to prevent leaks. Used fuel generally stays in the pool for at least five years, and 10 years is the industry norm, according to the NRC, allowing for enough cooling so it can be safely moved into dry storage casks.
Holtec has designed a cask it says can accept spent fuel after only two years, allowing for a complete transfer from the wet storage pool within three years.