G4 EZ EE THEWASHINGTONPOST.SUNDAY,MAY 29 , 2022
Source:CallanInstitute DOUGLASMACMILLAN/THEWASHINGTONPOSTOverhalfofthecountry'snuclearpowerreactorswill seetheirlicenses
expireinthenexttwodecades.Somewillseeklicenserenewals,while
otherswill undergodecommissioning.The comingwave of nuclearplant closuresNote:Someplantshavemultiplereactorswithdifferentlicenseexpirationdates.Decommissioning Licenseexpires
in next 10 yearsLicenseexpires
in 10-20 yearsD.C.LosAngelesChicagoMiamipuzzleovertheproblemofnu-
clearwaste.This material, which
emanatesinvisiblebutharmful
radiationforhundredsofyears,
is storedinprotective containers
onthegroundsofnuclearplants,
scattered in dozens of towns
acrossthecountry. Aplan to
build anational waste repository
in Nevada’s YuccaMountain
stalledamiddecadesofpolitical
gridlock, leaving these towns
saddled indefinitely with the
threatofanaccidentalrelease or
terrorist attack.
Holtecisapproaching those
communitieswith an offerto
cleanupthemess.‘Accelerated
decommissioning’
Foundedandwhollyownedby
Kris Singh,aninventoranden-
trepreneur,Holtecsays it is pio-
neeringanewmodelof “acceler-
ateddecommissioning.” Atthe
24 U.S. reactorscurrentlyunder-
going decommissioning, over
halfare expectedto taketwo
decadesor moretocomplete the
process,NRCdata shows; Holtec
pledges to returnnuclearsitesto
safe,clean, usablelandinas few
aseight years.
Singhdidnotrespondtore-
quests forcomment, andHoltec
didnotmakehimavailable for
aninterview.
Thecompany’sworkatOyster
Creek,its firstplant,was meant
to be ablueprintforthenational
expansion, Holtec executives
saidininterviewswithThePost
in early 2020. Instead, safety
advocatesargue,it hasservedas
awarning.Cost-cuttinghasleft
employees feelingoverworked
andpronetomistakes,according
to twoformerplantworkerswho
were bothlaid offbyHoltec.
Theyspokeontheconditionof
anonymitytodiscusstheir for-
meremployer.
Thecompany hassaidinregu-
latory filings that it planstokeep
about $85millionin profit from
OysterCreek’s $826milliontrust
fund.It hasalreadyspentabout
one-quarter of thefund.
Shortly afterHoltectookover,
regulators foundproblemswith
theplant’sweapons program.All
nuclear plants must maintain
weapons, suchasgunsandam-
munitionusedbysecurityper-
sonnel,andtestthemonaregu-
larbasis to securethesitesfrom
attacks.According to an NRC
investigation, aHoltecmanager
skippedthe annual tests and
falsifiedtheweaponsinspection
reports togivetheappearance
thetestswereconducted.The
managersaidinalettertothe
NRCthathemademistakeson
thecompany’sinspectionsreport
because he hadbeen “over-
whelmed”followingstaffcuts,
thoughhedeniedthatanything
wasintentionallyfalsified.
continuedonG5Delmarsays thefundwillappre-
ciate in valueto cover thecost of
thecleanup.AtPilgrim,Holtec
hassaidthepotentialradiation
dosefromtheCapeCodrelease
wouldbefarless thantheaver-
agetravelerreceivesonatypical
cross-countryflight.
IntheSouthwest, Holtechas
ignitedadifferentcontroversy.
As thecompanyacquiresold
plants, it is proposingtoshipthe
highlyradioactivespentfuel to
NewMexico, whereitplansto
build astoragefacility.Gov.Mi-
chelleLujanGrisham (D) has
vowedtofighttheplan,telling
Trumpina 2020 letter that
storingradioactivematerialin
theoil-richPermian Basinregion
would be “economic malprac-
tice.”
Holtecsaysit is workingin
partnershipwithagroupof local
officialswhobelievethebenefits
ofthefacility—includingnew
jobsandinvestment —outweigh
therisks.Onitswebsite,Holtec
saysthefacility willprovide“a
safe,secure,temporary,retriev-
able,andcentralizedfacilityfor
storageofusednuclear fueland
high-levelradioactivewaste un-
tilsuchtimethatapermanent
solutionis available.”
Thegrowingdebatemarksthe
latesttwistinthetorturedsaga
ofnuclear power,whichonce
washailedasamiracletechnol-
ogycapable ofproducinglarge
quantities of clean, affordable
energy. Intheearly 1970 s, the
federal Atomic EnergyCommis-
sionestimatedthat about1,00 0
reactorswouldbebuiltinthe
UnitedStates,andthatnuclear
sources eventually wouldpro-
videatleasthalfof theworld’s
power.
Butthoseambitionssooncol-
lidedwithfearsaboutnuclear
radiation,especiallyafterdisas-
trousmeltdownsat Chernobyl in
UkraineandFukushimainJa-
pan.Nuclearenergypeakedat
around18 percent of globalelec-
tricityproductioninthe 199 0s
andnowcomprisesabout10per-
cent,accordingtotheU.S.En-
ergyInformationAssociation.
Reactorsin theUnitedStates
initiallywere licensed for 40
years,andmostwererenewed
for another 20 years. Of 94
reactorsthatare still active,
licensesatoverhalfaresetto
expireinthenext twodecades,
according to JuliaMoriarty,a
seniorvicepresidentat Callan.
Recently,worries about cli-
mate changehaveledsomegov-
ernments to embrace nuclear as
alow-carbonsource ofpower.
Bidenhascallednuclearessen-
tialtothenation’s climate goals,
and Washington lastyearset
aside$6billionforextendingthe
licenses of some plants and
$2.5billionfordevelopingnew
nucleartechnologies.
Butthenationcontinuestoagencyalreadytakesa“laissez-
faire”approachtodecommis-
sioningandthatthenewrule
“wouldmakethesituationeven
worse,furtherskewingtheregu-
lationtowardstheinterestsof
industry.”
DanDorman,theNRC’sexec-
utive directorfor operations,
saidin anemailthattheagency
lifts restrictionsat plantsonlyif
it determinestheplantwill con-
tinuetobesafe.Inadditionto
citingHoltecfor violationsat
Oyster Creek, the agencyhas
requiredthe companyto take
corrective measures,including
external securityassessmentsof
allitsnuclear sites.
“Ourincreasedoversightand
therecentenforcementactions
demonstrateourconcernabout
thesituationatOysterCreek,”
Dormansaid.
Holtecfacesmountingcriti-
cismbeyondOyster Creek. Mich-
iganofficialshavesaidtheywor-
ry Holtecwillleave residentson
thehookforcleanupcosts at the
Palisadesplantontheshoresof
Lake Michigan.Massachusetts
officials haveprotestedHoltec’s
planto take1milliongallonsof
contaminated water from the
defunctPilgrimpowerplantand
dumpit intoCapeCodBay.
WhileHoltecacknowledgesa
funding shortfall at Palisades,dismantle them by replacing
hundreds of veteranplantwork-
ers with smaller,less-costly
crewsof contractors andelimi-
natingemergencyplanningmea-
sures,documentsandinterviews
show. While no onehasbeen
seriously injured at Oyster
Creek,themisstepsare spurring
calls for stronger government
oversightoftheentirecleanup
industry.
In the nearly three years
HoltechasownedOysterCreek,
regulatorshavedocumentedat
leastnineviolations offederal
rules,includingthecontaminat-
edwatermishap,falsifiedweap-
onsinspectionreportsandother
unspecified securitylapses.
That’s at leastasmanyaswere
found over the preceding 10
yearsat theplant,whenitwas
owned by Exelon, one of the
nation’slargestutilitycompa-
nies, accordingtoThe Post’s
reviewofregulatoryrecords.
JosephDelmar,aspokesman
forHoltec, defendedthecompa-
ny’s record,sayingit takes safety
and securityseriously.There-
centincidents“arenotreflective
of theorganization’s culture,”he
said,addingthat theworkerwho
knocked downthepowerline
“did notfollowthepropersafety
protocols.”Delmarsaidthecom-
panyhasdecadesof experience
buildingequipmentto storenu-
clearwasteandemploysveteran
plantworkersto dismantlereac-
torsites.
“While thedecommissioning
organizationmay seemnew,the
professionals staffing thecompa-
nyareexperiencednuclearpro-
fessionalswithintimate knowl-
edgeoftheplantstheyworkat,”
Delmarsaidin anemailedstate-
ment.
Holtecis, however,pioneering
an experimentalnewbusiness
model.Duringthelifetime of
America’s 133nuclearreactors,
ratepayers paid smallfeeson
their monthlyenergybills to fill
decommissioning trust funds, in-
tendedto covertheeventual cost
of deconstructing the plants.
Trustfundsforthecountry’s9 4
operatingand 14 nonoperating
nuclearreactorsnowtotalabout
$86billion,accordingtoCallan,
aSan Francisco-based invest-
mentconsultingfirm.
Afterareactoris dismantled
andits site cleared,someofthese
trustfunds mustreturn any
money left overto ratepayers.
Butotherspermit cleanupcom-
paniestokeepanysurplusas
profit —creatingincentivesto
cutcosts at sites thathousesome
of themostdangerousmaterials
ontheplanet.
Evenafterreactorsareshut
down, longmetalrodscontain-
ingradioactivepellets —known
as spentfuel—are storedsteps
away,incoolingpoolsandsteel-
and-concrete casks. Nuclear
safety experts saythatanindus-
trial accidentor aterroristattack
at anyofthese sitescould result
in aradiological release with
severeimpacts toworkersand
nearbyresidents,as wellastothe
environment.
TheNuclearRegulatory Com-
mission,theindependent federal
agencytaskedwithoverseeing
safety at nuclearsites,conducts
regularinspections duringthe
decommissioning process.But
stateandlocalofficialssaythe
NRChasfailedto safeguardthe
publicfromrisksatshut-down
plants, deferringtooreadilyto
companieslikeHoltec.
“TheNRCis notdoingtheir
job,”saidSen.Edward J. Markey
(D-Mass.), whohaspushedthe
agencytoadoptstricterregula-
tions aroundplant decommis-
sioning.“Weneedaguaranteed
systemthatprioritizescommu-
nitiesandsafety,andwedon’t
have that right now.”
TheNRC’s leadershipis divid-
ed over the role regulators
shouldplay. Theagencywas
created in 197 4, as the first
generationofcommercialreac-
torswasgoingonline,and its
rulesweremainlydesignedto
safeguardtheoperationof active
plants and nuclear-material
sites.Asreactorsshut down, the
NRCbeganreducinginspections
andexemptingplantsfromsafe-
ty andsecurityrules.
Last November,theNRCap-
provedanewrulethatwould
automatically qualifyshut-down
plantsfor loosersafetyandsecu-
rityrestrictions.ChristopherT.
Hanson,aDemocrat nominated
byPresidentDonaldTrumpand
promotedto theroleof chairman
byPresidentBiden,has saidthe
changes wouldimprovethe“ef-
fectiveness andefficiency” of the
decommissioningprocess.
CommissionerJeff Baran,also
aDemocrat,votedagainstthe
proposedruleandcalledforthe
NRCandlocalgovernmentsto
playabiggerrole. “Radiological
risks remain atshutdown nu-
clearplants thatmustbetaken
seriously,” he cautionedinpublic
comments.Baranaddedthatthe
HOLTECFROMG1
Nuclear safety advocates point to accidents at N.J. plant
SARAHL.VOISIN/THEWASHINGTONPOSTAVISTEINHARDTFORTHEPHILADELPHIAINQUIRERSARAHL.VOISIN/THEWASHINGTONPOSTABOVE:AHoltec employee weldsadry storagecanisterat the
company’s manufacturingplantinCamden,N.J. Holtecsaysitis
pioneeringamodelof “accelerated decommissioning” andhas
pledged to returnnuclearsites to safe,clean,usablelandin as few
as eightyears.MIDDLE: AsmokestackatOysterCreekNuclear
GeneratingStationinForked River,N.J.Theplantwasthefirstof
threeboughtbyHoltec, withafourth dealexpected thissummer.
Afterapparent regulatoryviolationsat OysterCreek,Holtecagreed
to paya$50,000civilpenalty, hireanewcorporatesecurity
directorandconductexternal security assessments. BOTTOM:
Holtec founderKrisSinghattendstheribbon-cuttingceremonyfor
thecompany’s50-acre technologycampusinCamdenin 2017.