MONTPELIER, Vt. — The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has shot down Vermont’s efforts to oversee how Entergy Nuclear spends the Vermont Yankee decommissioning trust fund.
The NRC issued the 42-page ruling Thursday, and effectively put an end to the state’s fight to have more say in how the decommissioning trust fund is spent.
The state had been joined by Green Mountain Power Corp., as well as Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corp., a holdover from the original utility owners, in its petitions to the federal agency.
The state has been arguing that Entergy is using the trust fund — which at one point was $680 million, and is now closer to $590 million — for things not associated with decommissioning: property taxes, emergency planning, legal fees, insurance, shipment of asbestos waste and a $5 million settlement payment.
The state argued that the funds were only to be used to “reduce residual radioactivity.”
The legal fight over the fund has been going on for two years.
The state argued Entergy’s spending will prematurely deplete the fund, thus delaying decommissioning, and didn’t take into consideration NRC regulations that Entergy would retain “adequate funding to complete decommissioning.”
“Our ongoing oversight of Entergy’s compliance with our regulatory structure provides reasonable assurance that sufficient funds will be available to decommission Vermont Yankee,” the NRC noted.
But the NRC did rule in the state’s favor in its request for an environmental review on Entergy’s request for an exemption on the issue of spent nuclear fuel. The ruling said that even while the NRC staff had opposed the review, it had conducted similar environmental reviews at other reactors.
Entergy itself has estimated that it will need at least $1.2 billion to tear down and clean up the Vernon reactor. Entergy has estimated it could take as long as 60 years for the fund to reach the needed amount.
The trust fund came into Entergy’s hands when it bought the plant in 2002 from a group of New England utilities. Entergy has never contributed to the trust, which was funded by its ratepayers.
Kate O’Connor, chairwoman of the Vermont Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, said Friday the NRC decision was discussed at the panel’s meeting Thursday evening in Vernon. She said that the state was still reviewing the decision.
Neither Christopher Recchia, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, nor Kyle Landis-Marinello, the deputy attorney general who handled the state’s case, could be reached for comment Friday.
Martin Cohn, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear, said the company had given the decision a preliminary review only.
“We are pleased with the decision by NRC commissioners in the matters brought forth by the state of Vermont regarding the use of the decommissioning trust fund,” he said.
“We do not see any need to change the way we are cost-effectively utilizing the decommissioning trust fund to safely and efficiently decommission Vermont Yankee,” he said.
Since Vermont Yankee shut down in late December 2014, the fund has dropped about $100 million, a combination of investment losses (and gains) and withdrawals.
The commission did order the NRC staff to analyze the environmental effects of Entergy’s exemption request on the issue of spent fuel management, but denied the state’s other request for a full environmental review of Entergy’s exemption requests.
“Petitioners have not shown that they are entitled to a hearing under the Atomic Energy Act,” the three-member board stated.
If the state of Vermont is unhappy with Entergy’s compliance on issues of its license, the commission said, its recourse “is to seek enforcement action.”
The state had earlier won a partial victory when Entergy was told to give the state advance notice when it was making a fund withdrawal.
Last week’s decision included a dissenting opinion by Commissioner Kristine Svinicki.