Entergy Corp. announced Tuesday that it would sell the shuttered Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to subsidiaries of NorthStar Group Services Inc., in a move that will accelerate decommissioning and site restoration by as much as 45 years, although spent fuel storage on site will remain a hurdle until a federal solution is found to long-term waste storage.
Entergy also said that transfer of all spent nuclear fuel to dry cask storage at the plant would be moved up by two years with all transfers to casks accomplished by 2018. According to reports, this will allow the company to trim its workforce at the plant. Once the workplace of 600 permanent workers, only a handful or Vermont Yankee employees will remain after the spent fuel is transferred, a process that is contracted to Holtec International. Holtec, meanwhile, submitted an application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) earlier this year that, if approved, would allow for complete transfer of spent fuel to dry casks by the end of 2018.
Entergy said the close of the sale to NorthStar would also be completed by the end of 2018.
The sale includes the transfer of the plant's decommissioning fund to NorthStar, a sum of $574.9 million at the end of September, according to Vtdigger. “The transfer of ENVY (Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yanksee) to NorthStar will include the tranfer of ENVY's nuclear decommissioning trust and its obligations for spent fuel management and decommissioning,” Entergy said.
Vermont Yankee was closed down Dec. 29, 2014, after 42 years of operations. Entergy cited economic concerns for the decision to close the plant.
Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities said the gain for the community included a faster return to economic development for the region. “By accelerating decommissioning, we are fulfilling a commitment we made in 2013 to decommission Vermont Yankee as soon as reasonably possible,” he said.
The gain for Entergy includes getting a large white elephant off of its books, given the uncertainties associated with decommissioning. NorthStar, in turn, gains the opportunity to profit from their services. The community gains a faster return to normalcy, albeit the problem of spent fuel storage remains.
NorthStar, which is based in New York, is partnering in the project through a subsidiary with AREVA Waste Control Specialists. It is also drawing on services from Burns & McDonnel.
“The NorthStar team members have collectively worked on more than 300 nuclear and non-nuclear power plant projects over 15 years, the company said. “Our primary objective is to complete the decommissioning of the non-Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation portion of the site decades earlier than originally planned so that a majority of Vermont Yankee can be re-developed to promote business for the region,” said Scott State, NorthStar's chief executive officer, echoing Mohl's concerns.
Among the financial conditions – the final value of the sale was not divulged – Entergy will receive nominal cash consideration and a promissory note payable to Entergy in an amount equal to what is owned at the time of closing under a credit facility to finance Vermont Yankee's dry fuel storage costs, which facility will be either assumed or financed by an Entergy subsidiary at or before closing. The sale, meanwhile, is subject to approval by regulators, including the Vermont Public Service Board and the NRC.