Nebraska Public Power District, Entergy agree to end services for Cooper Nuclear Station

The Cooper Nuclear Station will no longer receive service support from Entergy, following a mutual agreement between the company and the nuclear station’s owner, the Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), to terminate an existing contract.

That service contract has been in place since 2003 and, until this week, had represented the last plant outside of Entergy’s regulated utility business for which Entergy had contractual obligations. NPPD was the owner and, as such, largely responsible for the operations of the Cooper plant, but Entergy had supplied five employees and other support services. NPPD noted that this change would not affect the operations of the nuclear station, and it may tap Entergy or other available industry resources for it as necessary.

“This was a mutual decision and is in the best interests of both utilities,” Tom Kent, NPPD’s president and CEO, said in a joint statement with Christopher Bakken, executive vice president and Chief Nuclear Officer of Entergy Nuclear. “NPPD has had an excellent relationship with Entergy. Its people and processes have played a key role in helping Cooper Nuclear Station achieve improved performance. Over the past two decades, we have built up a tremendous amount of experience and skill within our ranks. We have reached a point where we can meet the high expectations for excellence in the commercial nuclear industry with our team at Cooper Nuclear Station, and as is common in the industry, we can also use supplemental assistance from others in the nuclear industry as needed.”

Cooper Nuclear Station is the largest generating unit for NPPD and Nebraska’s largest single source of carbon free generation. It’s been operating since 1974, and even today, hosts the capacity to service about half of the annual energy requirements for NPPD’s retail and wholesale customers alike. However, Entergy has been largely leaving its merchant fleet nuclear operations throughout the U.S. to focus on the nuclear plants owned by its regulated utility business operations in the Southern United States.

As it stands, Cooper is licensed to operate until early 2034. NPPD, therefore, has several years to consider if it will seek a second license renewal with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that would extend the facility’s operating license for another 20 years.