Gina Scala reports for The Sandpaper – May 1, 2019
FORKED RIVER, NJ — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is likely to render its decision on the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station license transfer application that would, if approved, allow Holtec Decommissioning International to kick-start the process of retiring the defunct plant by July 1.
Exelon Generation, which operated Oyster Creek until it shut down in September 2018, along with HDI, part of the Camden-based Holtec International energy conglomerate, submitted the license transfer application on Aug. 31, 2018. The companies requested a decision on the application be made by May 1.
In a separate but related matter, the presidentially appointed commission that oversees the NRC is expected to rule on two requests for a hearing on the license transfer application, said Neil Sheehan, public information officer for the NRC Region 1 office. One of those requests is from Lacey Township, which is home to the shuttered Oyster Creek plant. The other hearing request is from the Sierra Club.
“There is no timeframe available on when the commission may rule on the hearing requests,” Sheehan said earlier this week. “I can just tell you the staff intends to issue a decision on the application by July 1.”
Last month, the NRC issued its environmental assessment relating to Exelon Generation’s request for an exemption from certain emergency planning requirements to kick in at 285 days after permanent defueling of the plant, not the normal 365-day requirement. Exelon cited a new zirconium fire analysis that shows the possibility of fire in the spent fuel pool will be reduced to a point of significantly less risk sooner than initially estimated, Sheehan said.
In rendering its environmental assessment, NRC staff determined moving up the effective dates for certain emergency planning requirements would not significantly affect plant safety or increase the probability of an accident happening. “The proposed action would not have a significant effect on the environment. The reason the human environment would not be significantly affected is that the proposed exemption would not involve any construction or modification of the facility.”
