VERNON, Vt. — Entergy Nuclear violated federal regulations last year when it prematurely took money out of the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund to cover planning expenses associated with the handling of spent nuclear fuel at the closed reactor.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission made the announcement Wednesday, but said there would be no fine, and it said it took some responsibility for the problem because of its own regulations.
At issue is $282,000 that Entergy took out of the $600 million fund in early 2015, before it had clearance from the NRC to do so.
Entergy took the money out in February, a month after it asked the NRC for permission to use the fund for spent fuel planning purposes.
The NRC gave its permission in June. Entergy did not have to pay the money back to the decommissioning trust fund, according to NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
Entergy Nuclear, which owns several nuclear power plants that are either in the process of decommissioning or about to permanently shut down, said it had sent a notice to its other plants to avoid making the same mistake.
Sheehan said the Level IV violation was a lowlevel violation.
Christopher Recchia, Vermont’s commissioner of the Department of Public Service, thanked the NRC for researching the violation. Recchia’s department has been fighting Entergy and the NRC over exactly what activities can be reimbursed through the trust fund, which has decreased by about $100 million in Yankee’s first year of decommissioning.
He said the violation occurred during a “short window of time” when Entergy did not have permission to do what it did.
The state still has other complaints pending before the NRC regarding the use of the decommissioning funds, such as Entergy’s payment of property taxes, as well as its legal fees, Recchia said.
Recchia said the state believes that Entergy should pay interest to the trust fund for the five months it used the money prematurely.
“We’re waiting for the NRC to rule on that,” he said.
Marty Cohn, Entergy Nuclear spokesman, said Entergy believed that it had permission at the time it removed the money.
“The amount of spent fuel management planning costs that ENVY reimbursed from the trust fund, approximately $282,000, represented about 1.5 percent of the amount allowed to be used for decommissioning planning — and less than 0.05 percent of the total trust fund balance at the time,” Cohn said via email.
“Entergy Nuclear expects that this finding will result in the NRC updating its guidance documents to ensure the industry is informed of the NRC’s interpretation of its regulations and that the issue will also be addressed through ongoing rulemaking activities,” Cohn said.
Actions have been taken to ensure other Entergy sites have controls in place to avoid similar circumstances, he said.