entergy nuclear decommissioning
This took place on a fixed-price contract for US$ 195 million (hence costing less than 1 cent/kWh despite only a 16-year operating life) and the project proceeded on schedule to clear the site and relinquish its licence early in 1997 – the first US power reactor of this size to achieve this. The total cost of decommissioning is dependent on the sequence and timing of the various stages of the program. Total 132. The total cost will be JPY 93 billion (USD 1.04 billion) – 35 billion for dismantling and 58 billion for waste treatment which will include the graphite moderator (which escalates the cost significantly, see subsection below). Louisiana Power and Light Company, for example (today's Entergy Louisiana) used the logo shown at right extensively from about 1967 to 1989, on buildings equipment, and advertising. Experience in the USA has varied, but about ten power reactors are using the Safstor approach, while about 20 – mostly single-unit plants – are using, or have used, Decon. This was a relatively low-cost operation – about $300 million. Entergy has said it wants to retire the Palisades Nuclear Plant in 2022. Norway and Holland are the only countries with consistent standards. In USA many utilities have revised their cost projections downwards in the light of experience. However, it concludes that adequate information exists to enable the safe dismantling and processing of graphite moderators, and that the three main options for disposal of this graphite are oxidation to the gas phase and release as carbon dioxide (difficult), direct burial, or recycling into new products for the nuclear industry. About two-thirds of the total estimated cost of decommissioning all US nuclear power reactors has already been collected, leaving a liability of about $9 billion to be covered over the remaining operating lives of about 100 reactors (on the basis of an average of $320 million per unit). It is being decommissioned by EnergySolutions from 2019. Clearance levels differ internationally, leaving scope for greater harmonisation, and some levels are unjustifiably conservative, e.g. Another joint venture in the field is Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI), formed in 2018 between SNC-Lavalin and Holtec. 40 Years of Nuclear Power. For example, scrap steel from gas plants may be recycled if it has less than 500,000 Bq/kg (0.5 MBq/kg) radioactivity (the exemption level). Experimental, early commercial types and commercial units whose continued operation was no longer justified, usually for economic reasons. In May 2018, Entergy New Orleans was embroiled in a scandal surrounding its controversial proposal for a natural gas power plant in East New Orleans. Three Mile Island 2 is in post-defuelling monitored storage. Except for the used fuel storage, the site was released for unrestricted use in 2005. The plant was a boiling water reactor (BWR), designed by General Electric.It operated from 1972 until December 29, 2014, when its owner Entergy shut down the plant. Several sodium-cooled fast reactors have been decommissioned, but only a few have been dismantled. Southern California Edison said that funds were then $3.37 billion. NRC requires that the operating licence of a closed reactor be terminated and decommissioning activities be completed within 60 years. As other reactors will continue to operate at those sites, monitoring and surveillance do not add to the cost. Several are highly radioactive, emitting gamma rays. The Paducah plant was commissioned in 1952 for defence purposes and was leased to USEC from 1993 to 2013. In summary, US plants with Decon completed are: Big Rock Point, Elk River, Fort St Vrain, Haddam Neck/Connecticut Yankee, La Crosse, Maine Yankee, Pathfinder, Rancho Seco, San Onofre 1, Saxton, Shippingport, Shoreham, Trojan, Zion 1&2 and Yankee Rowe. Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. The cost of the 63-month project was €93 million. External sinking fund (Nuclear Power Levy): This is built up over the years from a percentage of the electricity rates charged to consumers. In the case of immediate dismantling (or early site release), responsibility for completion of decommissioning is not transferred to future generations. Areva is decommissioning the Eurodif enrichment plant at Marcoule since 2012. The spent fuel is planned to remain at the onsite storage facility until 2036, when it would be moved to a federal facility. In March 2016 the contract was extended by 30 months. In addition to the above is the first floating nuclear power plant, installed in a former liberty ship, and utilised at Panama 1967-76. This involved over 2012-15 the decontamination with ClF3 gas to remove the residual uranium left inside, and extract it as UF6, then recovery of all produced chloride and fluoride gas before the opening of equipments and circuits. Decommissioning in Germany, Nuclear Engineering International (27 March 2013), © 2016-2021 World Nuclear Association, registered in England and Wales, number 01215741. Immediate dismantling enables the maximum use of the residual life of the equipment and structures of the shutdown units, reduces maintenance costs, makes use of existing radioactive waste management facilities, and employs the skills of personnel. Germany’s KNK-2 at Karlsruhe was shut down in 1991 after 14 years' operation, with fuel removal and initial dismantling in 1993. The non-utility nuclear segment operates a total of nine nuclear power plants: The company's nuclear division is headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. So the Texas side has remained connected to the rest of the Entergy network, though it has its own CEO and until 2012, was based where the former Gulf States Utilities was, in Beaumont, Texas. [verification needed]. Entergy has annual revenues of $11 billion and employs more than 13,000 people. This may be done in a number of ways but the funds cannot be withdrawn other than for decommissioning purposes. Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities Low-Level Waste Waste Incidental to Reprocessing High-Level Waste. The current agreement runs to 2018. Entergy is headquartered in New Orleans, Louisiana,[5] and generates and distributes electric power to 2.9 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy Corp. ... As part of that process, it is selling or decommissioning nuclear power plants it owns across the U.S. For a Swiss 1000 MWe PWR the detailed estimate amounts to CHF 663 million (€617 million). Six civil reactors are being decommissioned: three early LWGRs, the Melekess VK-50 prototype BWR, and two larger prototype VVER-440 units at Novovoronezh. The main radionuclide in scrap from the oil and gas industry is radium-226, with a half-life of 1600 years as it decays to radon. Edward C. Doubleday, A Decommissioning Wrapup: Commercial Reactor Decommissioning Status in 2006, Radwaste Solutions, Volume 14, Number 2 (March/April 2007)
(Also Santa Susana Field Laboratory's Sodium Reactor Experiment, which is not included in power reactor tables.) People who live near the Indian Point nuclear facility say they have major concerns about what happens when the $2.3 billion decommissioning fund transfers to … They must then report regularly to the NRC on the status of their decommissioning funds. [12] Its extensive transmission system carries approximately 30,000 megawatts of power across more than 15,700 miles (25,300 km) of interconnected lines within a 114,000-square-mile (300,000 km2) area. The radionuclide inventory of irradiated graphite is unusual in comparison with other nuclear wastes. On-site Power. Entergy operates more than 40 plants using natural gas, nuclear, coal, oil and hydroelectric power with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity to serve its 2.9 million customers in the Gulf South. 5996 (2006)
It also includes part of southeastern Texas, including the Beaumont-Port Arthur-Orange and Conroe-Woodlands-Kingwood areas. Entergy Nuclear operates five units in the Entergy utility service territory including: Arkansas Nuclear One Unit One and Unit Two – Russellville, Arkansas; Grand Gulf Nuclear … The DJSI is a listing of the companies whose overall environmental, social and economic sustainability performance scores were in the top 10 percent for their sector. Deferment of a stage tends to reduce its cost, due to decreasing radioactivity, but this may be offset by increased storage and surveillance costs. At multi-unit nuclear power stations, the choice has been to place the first closed unit into Safstor until the others end their operating lives, so that all can be decommissioned in sequence. A 2006 report commissioned by EPRI states: "The graphite moderators of retired gas-cooled nuclear reactors present a difficult challenge during demolition activities. The important areas where experience is being gained and shared are the assessment of the radioactive inventories, decontamination methods, cutting techniques, remote operation, radioactive waste management and health and safety. The two men ultimately decided to merge their resources. About 115 commercial power reactors, 48 experimental or prototype power reactors, as well as over 250 research reactors and several fuel cycle facilities, have been retired from operation. Entergy’s Indian Point plant is expected to cost $2.3 billion to decommission and dismantle over about 12-15 years, by CDI after ownership passes to Holtec. A Wisconsin-based utility group is buying a controlling stake in a Kansas wind farm for $302 million. Final dismantling or decontamination activities can begin within a few months, depending on the facility. However, in May 2019 Duke announced that it had contracted with Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (NorthStar and Orano joint venture) for decommissioning Crystal River by 2027, and that this would be covered by the decommissioning fund, which was worth $717 million in the first quarter of 2019. Immediate decommissioning (Decon) was then expected to cost $994 million, but the decommissioning fund would have had less time to grow sufficiently to cover it, and a $195 million impact on Florida ratepayers would have resulted. Nuclear. Material which is essentially uncontaminated and unconditionally released. Under the NEA CPD program (see below) a 2017 report on Recycling and Reuse of Materials Arising from the Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities has been published. [1] It changed its name to Entergy in 1989, and merged/bought Gulf States Utilities, based in Beaumont, Texas, as of 12:00 midnight, January 1, 1994. Areva described the project as "one of the largest dismantling projects in the world.". The plant closed in 1993, steam generators were removed, transported and disposed of at Hanford in 1995, and the reactor vessel (with internals) was removed and transported to Hanford in 1999. Considerable experience has been gained in decommissioning various types of nuclear facility. The total cost was $836 million. Even allowing for uncertainties in cost estimates and applicable discount rates, decommissioning contributes a small fraction of total electricity generation costs. Those in nuclear industry scrap are cobalt-60 and caesium-137, with much shorter half-lives. Site release often excludes the onsite used fuel storage in an ISFSI (independent spent fuel storage installation), which usually remains, to await the Department of Energy taking away the used fuel (over which it has title) to a national repository sometime in the future. HDI additionally, manages the decommissioning trust fund and other owner interests, such as licensing strategy, insurance, land and government interface. After 10 years storage, in Phase 2 (to 2011) the steam generators and turbines were removed, and in Phase 3 (to 2018) the reactor is being dismantled, the buildings demolished and the site left ready for re-use. This international collaboration has produced a great deal of technical and financial information. Apart from some surface contamination of plant, the remaining radioactivity comes from "activation products" in steel which has long been exposed to neutron irradiation, notably the reactor pressure vessel. In USA, after defuelling, the reactor compartments are cut out of the vessels and are transported inland to Hanford, where they are buried as low-level waste. Application of a 0.3 mSv/yr dose limit results in a clearance level for Ra-226 of 500 Bq/kg, compared with 10 Bq/kg for nuclear material. Entergy Texas has moved to the rapidly developing area of The Woodlands, which is now larger population wise than the Beaumont area. It operated at 1.8 MWe and 10 MW thermal. Unit 1 of 277 MWe, in Safstor since 1974, would cost $598 million, unit 2 $702 million and unit 3 $1 billion. Surety fund, letter of credit, or insurance purchased by the utility to guarantee that decommissioning costs will be covered even if the utility defaults. Entergy's main operating segments consist of the U.S. utility segment and the non-utility nuclear segment. It is important to note that the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) does not have authority over the complete process. Entergy Texas operates as a wholly owned subsidiary. [20], Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, Entergy (ETR) annual SEC income statement filing via Wikinvest, Entergy (ETR) annual SEC balance sheet filing via Wikinvest, Entergy Corporate Headquarters Return to New Orleans, "Entergy wins approval to merge Louisiana utilities", "Cuomo Confirms Deal to Close Indian Point Nuclear Plant", "Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Begins Slow Process of Closing", "Entergy to Continue Operating Palisades Power Plant Until Spring 2022", "Full List: The Most Trustworthy Large-Cap Companies", "City Council approves construction of controversial Entergy plant in New Orleans East", "New Orleans City Council could subpoena Entergy for info on paid actors", "City Council votes to fine Entergy $5 million for paid actors scandal", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Entergy&oldid=1003479158, Electric power companies of the United States, Natural gas companies of the United States, Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Nuclear power companies of the United States, Hydroelectric power companies of the United States, Wikipedia articles needing factual verification from May 2017, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Electricity (and natural gas in New Orleans and Baton Rouge), Entergy Arkansas (formerly Arkansas Power and Light Company (AP&L)), Entergy Louisiana (formerly Louisiana Power and Light Company (LP&L)). 10/26/04 § 25.304: Nuclear Decommissioning Funding and Requirements for Power Generation Companies. In 2020, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of the Indian Point Energy Center licenses to … An OECD Nuclear Energy Agency survey published in 2016 reported US dollar (2013) costs in response to a wide survey. This option usually involves reducing the size of the area where the radioactive material is located and then encasing the facility in a long-lived structure such as concrete, that will last for a period of time to ensure the remaining radioactivity is no longer of concern. A member of the Fortune 500,[4] Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States after Exelon Corporation. Russia's Rosenergoatom has concluded that moving from the 'deferred' to 'immediate' dismantling approach to its nuclear reactors being decommissioned would bring a 20% cost saving. 06/18/98 § 25.303: Nuclear Decommissioning Following the Transfer of Texas Jurisdictional Nuclear Generating Plant Assets. In January 2007 most of the land was released for derestricted public use, though 43 hectares still has the dry cask storage facility where used fuel is stored pending transfer to the national repository. Many nuclear submarines have been decommissioned over the last decade. Prior to the use of the current Entergy logo (shown in the summary box at the upper right of this page), each subsidiary had its own distinctive logo. Most of these started up before 1980 and their short operating lifetime is not surprising for the first couple of decades of a major new technology. This level however is one thousand times higher than the clearance level for recycled material (both steel and concrete) from the nuclear industry, where generally anything above 500 Bq/kg may not be cleared from regulatory control for recycling.*. As a result, utilities have not dismantled any moderators of CO2 cooled power reactors to date." Rostechnadzor oversees a major program of decommissioning old fuel cycle facilities, financed under the Federal target program on Nuclear and Radiation Safety. Exelon's Oyster Creek (619 MWe BWR) in New Jersey will be dismantled and cleaned up by Comprehensive Decommissioning International – the SNC-Lavalin and Holtec JV – starting in 2019 and expected to take less than ten years. Mississippi Power and Light, Louisiana Power and Light, New Orleans Public Service and Arkansas Power and Light were deemed to be an integrated system, and were reorganized under the control of a new holding company, Middle South Utilities. The 250 MWe Gundremmingen A unit was Germany's first commercial nuclear reactor, operating 1966-77. Most of the radioactive waste was then removed and primary components were sealed inside the containment with concrete to Safstor status. With Exelon's Zion 1&2 reactors (2 x 1098 MWe) closed down in 1998 and initially in Safstor, Exelon decided to accelerate the process and contracted a specialist company – EnergySolutions – to dismantle the plant, ship the waste to its disposal site in Utah, and return the site to greenfield status. He replaced Mark Savoff, who announced his retirement a few months earlier.[7]. In each case, opportunities exist for pre-processing to concentrate or remove radionuclides to enhance the safety of the chosen option. In most countries the operator or owner is responsible for the decommissioning costs. Initially consisting of 10 decommissioning projects in eight countries, the programme has since grown to 70 projects (40 reactors and 30 fuel cycle facilities) in 14 NEA member countries, one non-member economy, and the European Commission. The D&R contract is valued at $750 million for five years, followed by three-year and two-year option periods together worth about $750 million. Two years later, he formed Louisiana Power and Light to provide power to his Mississippi customers from northern Louisiana's natural gas fields. * One of the first was Berkeley nuclear power station (2 x 138 MWe), closed for economic reasons in 1989 after 27 years of operation, where defuelling was completed in 1992. In 1925, Electric Power and Light Corporation was formed, an EBASCO subsidiary headquartered in New Orleans, with Couch as its president.