INSTANT PRESS
ADVISORY
on Behalf of
NRC has denied
Entergy Nuclear Operation’s (ENO) bid to cancel parent company decommissioning
fund guarantees for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station. ENO claimed in its April
“Notice of Cancelation” that because NRC had issued a renewed license, twenty
years of operation would allow interest on invested decommissioning funds to
build a surplus, obviating the need for a forty million dollar guarantee. NRC
Staff denied the cancelation stating that Vermont’s decision to withhold state
permission renders another 20 years of operation at best uncertain. ENO is
invited to file another Notice of Cancellation when the matter is settled in
the courts. “In the meantime” said New England Coalition advisor, Raymond
Shadis, “It looks like, put up and shutdown.”
This I believe
is the first federal acknowledgement that Entergy’s Vermont Yankee is still on
track for shutdown in March 2012, just eight months from now.
If VY goes into so-called,
Safstor, that is monitored storage and delayed decommissioning, the bulk of
decommissioning funds may remain invested and growing during that period, he
said. The minimum available as required by NRC, is to
take care of radiological decommissioning. Decommissioning to non
–radiological
To my best knowledge
Entergy Nuclear Operations DID NOT Inform the Vermont Public Service Board of
its intention to file a notice of cancellation of parent company guarantee of
decommissioning funds; adequacy and security of decommissioning funds being a
matter before the Board in Docket 7440 (the extended operation CPG case) and
Docket 7600 (the aging piping/groundwater contamination case).
Raymond Shadis
207-882-7801
802-257-0336
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
UNITED STATES
NUCLEAR
REGULATORY COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C.
20555-0001
August 10, 2011
Site Vice
President
Entergy Nuclear
Operations, Inc.
SUBJECT: NRC
RESPONSE TO NOTICE OF CANCELLATION OF PARENT
GUARANTEE FOR
Dear Sir or
Madam:
On April 29,
2011, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc. (ENO) submitted to the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission (NRC) a notice that Entergy Corporation intends to cancel a parent
company guarantee by Entergy Corporation guaranteeing $40 million of the
decommissioning cost for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station (Vermont
Yankee) (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (
In its
submittal, ENO referenced its decommissioning funding status report on March
31, 2011, which, according to its calculation, provided approximately $211
million in surplus funds over the NRC's minimum funding amount without
consideration of the parent guarantee, rendering the existing parent company
guarantee for additional financial assurance no longer necessary. Also
according to the submittal, Paragraph 13 of the parent company guarantee and
Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations Part 30 Appendix A(III)(A), states
that the parent company guarantee will remain in force unless the guarantor
sends notice of cancellation and the cancellation may not occur during the 120
days beginning on the date of receipt of the notice of cancellation by both the
licensee and the Commission. Therefore, ENO notified the NRC that Vermont
Yankee no longer required a parent company guarantee and that Entergy
Corporation was intending to remove the parent company guarantee 120 days from
the receipt of the notice.
The NRC staff
has reviewed the notice of cancellation by ENO and has determined that external
factors may affect the licensee's decommissioning financial assurance. The
reason for the NRC staff's decision is based on the ongoing civil court case
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee v. Shumlin, No. 11-cv-99 (D.V.T filed April 8,
2011) (VY v. Shumlin). Also, on June 23, 2011, the State of Vermont Department
of Public Service submitted a letter to the NRC stating that Vermont is
currently reviewing land use, power needs, alternatives, costs, economic
impacts and reliability for any generation source and has not determined that
Vermont Yankee meets
-2-
the State
criteria for continued operation (ADAMS Accession No. ML 11187 A311). Depending
on the outcome
of
operate after
March 21, 2012. Under that condition, the anticipated earnings during the
renewal
period would not
be realized. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the plant's future,
cancellation of
the guarantee at this time would be premature.
If the parent
company guarantee is cancelled, the licensee will be required to provide
adequate financial assurance within 90 days of receipt of the notice of
cancellation. However, when the issues raised by
If you have any
questions regarding this letter, please contact me at 301-415-4125.
Sincerely,
James Kim,
Project Manager
Plant Licensing
Branch 1-1
Division of
Operating Reactor Licensing
Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Docket No.
50-271
cc: Distribution
via Listserv
-2
the State
criteria for continued operation (ADAMS Accession No. ML 11187A311). Depending
on the outcome
of
operate after
March 21, 2012. Under that condition, the anticipated earnings during the
renewal
period would not
be realized. Because of the uncertainty surrounding the plant's future,
cancellation of
the guarantee at this time would be premature.
If the parent
company guarantee is cancelled, the licensee will be required to provide
adequate
financial
assurance within 90 days of receipt of the notice of cancellation. However,
when the
issues raised by
intent to remove
the parent company guarantee for an expedited review by the NRC staff.
If you have any
questions regarding this letter, please contact me at 301-415-4125.
Sincerely,
Ira!
James Kim,
Project Manager
Plant licensing
Branch 1-1
Division of Operating
Reactor Licensing
Office of
Nuclear Reactor Regulation
Docket No.
50-271
cc: Distribution
via Listserv
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ADAMS Accession
N0.: ML 112210193 *See memo dated August 5, 2011
a e
OFFICE LPL
1-1/PM LPL1-1/LA PFIB/BC LPL1-1/BC
NAME JKim
SLittie CRegan* NSalgado (RGuzman for)
!,ATE 8/10/11
8/10/11 8/512011 8110/11
OFFICIAL RECORD
COpy
This announcement was
sent by New England Coalition (NEC). If you wish to update your email address
or to be removed from our private email list please email us at necnp@necnp.org or call us
at 802-257-0336. Thank you.
NEC, organized and founded
in 1971, is the region’s sole advocate for environmental and nuclear safety
with intervenor status in the Entergy Vermont Yankee federal relicensing
process, and is an intervenor in two open dockets before the Vermont Public
Service Board Docket 7440 – Shall Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee receive a CPG
for an additional 20 years of operation and less widely reported Docket 7600
which resulted from an action brought by Conservation Law Foundation regarding
the tritium leaks at VY.
New England Coalition is a 501(c)(3)
non-profit organization. All contributions are tax-deductible. Donate at necnp.org using PayPal or send a check to
NEC, PO Box 545, Brattleboro , VT 05302 www.necnp.org