Entergy agrees to post-shutdown sale of nuclear plants for decommissioning

Entergy Corp. recently agreed to sell the subsidiaries that own the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station and the Palisades Power Plant after their shutdowns and reactor defuelings to a Holtec International subsidiary for accelerated decommissioning.

Pilgrim is located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the Palisades Power Plant is located in Covert, Michigan.

The sales include the transfer of the licenses, spent fuel and Nuclear Decommissioning Trusts (NDTs) as well as the site of the decommissioned Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant near Charlevoix, Michigan, which now only hosts the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI).

“Transferring our Pilgrim and Palisades plants to Holtec, with its vast experience and innovative use of technology, will lead to their decommissioning faster than if they were to remain under Entergy’s ownership,” Entergy Chairman and CEO Leo Denault said. “Earlier decommissioning benefits the surrounding communities.”

The transactions are subject to conditions to closing, including approvals from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) of the license transfers.

Holtec and Entergy expect to file a license transfer request for Pilgrim with the NRC in the fourth quarter of this year, with the transaction closing by the end of 2019. The license transfer request for Palisades would take place close to its planned shutdown in the spring of 2022, with transaction closing anticipated by the end of that year.

Holtec anticipates completing all major decommissioning work in approximately eight years and initiating decommissioning of Pilgrim in 2020. Holtec plans to move the spent nuclear fuel out of the spent fuel pools and into dry cask storage within approximately three years of the plants’ shutdowns.

“We intend to deploy cutting-edge technologies to carry out the deconstruction of the plant structures with minimal impact on the environment and maximum personnel safety which are our core competencies,” Holtec President and CEO Kris Singh said. “As a growing company, we look forward to exploring employment opportunities for Entergy employees dislocated by the plant’s decommissioning.”