Holtec International to Purchase Oyster Creek Generating Station, Decommission Nuclear Plant within Eight Years
Exelon Generation, the owner of the nation’s largest fleet of nuclear
energy facilities, and Holtec International, a global leader in used
nuclear fuel management technologies, today announced an agreement for
Holtec to purchase Oyster Creek Generating Station.
Under the terms of the agreement, which is subject to regulatory
approvals, Holtec will assume ownership of the site, real property and
used nuclear fuel. As the site’s owner, Holtec will manage all site
decommissioning and restoration activities.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2019,
pending the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s and other regulatory
approval, and will not impact the scheduled shutdown of Oyster Creek, as
previously announced. Holtec will be accelerating Oyster Creek’s
decommissioning timeline with the highest standard of safety, quality
and environmental stewardship.
“This landmark agreement is good news for Oyster Creek employees, the
Lacey community and the state of New Jersey,” said Bryan Hanson, Exelon
Generation’s chief nuclear officer. “Holtec’s commitment to the nuclear
industry and its presence in New Jersey will allow many of our employees
previously facing relocation to continue living and working in the
Garden State. Further, with three decades of experience in nuclear fuel
technologies and a partnership with global decommissioning leader
SNC-Lavalin, Holtec is ideally positioned to complete the
decommissioning of Oyster Creek safely and swiftly.”
“It is with wistful pride that we, a New Jersey-born company which has
spread around the globe, will take over the State’s oldest nuclear plant
and decommission it with the latest technologies that will preserve the
pristine New Jersey shore and accrete minimal dose to the workers. We
hope to offer job opportunities to the many Oyster Creek-based Exelon
employees who may wish to pursue exciting career opportunities with our
company,” said Holtec’s President & CEO, Dr. Kris Singh.
As the new owner of the plant, Holtec will contract with Comprehensive
Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI) to perform the decontamination
and decommissioning of the plant. CDI is a joint venture company of
Holtec and SNC-Lavalin. Headquartered in Camden, N.J., CDI will bring
the expertise of both companies together to ensure safe, rapid, and
economic nuclear plant decommissioning. With its experience and
state-of-the-art technologies, CDI is well equipped to decommission
Oyster Creek within eight years, more than 50 years ahead of the
industry-allowed 60-year timeline.
As part of the sale agreement, CDI will offer employment to Oyster Creek
decommissioning employees, effective upon the transaction closing.
Holtec will submit a new Oyster Creek decommissioning plan, which must
be reviewed and approved by the NRC. The process provides opportunities
for public review and comment on the plan during the NRC evaluation
period.
Holtec recently submitted a license application for an autonomous
consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) in New Mexico to accept
spent nuclear fuel from all nuclear plants in the U.S., including from
Oyster Creek. Once licensed, fuel could be sent to the New Mexico CISF
based upon the established use of interim storage locations by the
federal government which would allow Holtec to return the full site to
unrestricted use once the fuel has been transported off-site.
The funds from the site’s decommissioning trust will be transferred to
Holtec upon closing and will be used by Holtec to cover the cost of the
decommissioning. The trust fund was established decades ago to pay for
decommissioning, and no additional funds from utility customers will be
required.
In February 2018, Exelon Generation announced Oyster Creek will
permanently shut down this fall at the end of its current operating
cycle. Exelon Generation is required to close Oyster Creek no later than
December 2019 as part of an agreement with the State of New Jersey.
Oyster Creek is located about 60 miles east of Philadelphia in Ocean
County, N.J. The plant produces 636 net megawatts of zero-emission
electricity at full power, enough electricity to supply 600,000 typical
homes, the equivalent to all homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties
combined.
About Exelon Generation
Exelon Generation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE: EXC), is
one of the largest, most efficient clean energy producers in the U.S.,
with a generating capacity of more than 32,700 megawatts. Exelon
Generation operates the largest U.S. fleet of carbon-free nuclear plants
with 20,300 megawatts of capacity from 23 reactors at 14 facilities in
Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Exelon
Generation also operates a diverse mix of wind, solar, landfill gas,
hydroelectric, natural gas and oil facilities in 17 states with more
than 12,400 megawatts. Exelon Generation has an industry-leading safety
record and is an active partner and economic engine in the communities
it serves by providing jobs, charitable contributions and tax payments
that help towns and regions grow. Follow Exelon Generation on Twitter @ExelonGen,
view the Exelon
Generation YouTube channel, and visit http://www.exeloncorp.com/companies/exelon-generation.
About Holtec International
Holtec International is a privately held energy technology company
with operation centers in Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania in
the US, and globally in Brazil, Dubai, India, South Africa, Spain, UK
and Ukraine. Holtec’s principal business concentration is in the nuclear
power industry. Holtec has played a preeminent role since the 1980s by
densifying wet storage in nuclear plants’ spent fuel pools deferring the
need for and expense of alternative measures by as much as two decades
at over 110 reactor units in the US and abroad. Dry storage and
transport of nuclear fuel is another area in which Holtec is recognized
as the foremost innovator and industry leader with a dominant market
share and an active market presence in eighteen countries. Among the
Company’s pioneering endeavors are the world’s first below-ground
Consolidated Interim Storage Facility being developed in New Mexico and
a 160-Megawatt walk away safe small modular reactor, SMR-160. The
SMR-160 is developed to bring cost competitive carbon-free energy to all
corners of the earth including water-challenged regions. Holtec is also
a major supplier of special-purpose pressure vessels and
critical-service heat exchange equipment such as air-cooled condensers,
steam generators, feedwater heaters, and water-cooled condensers. Virtually
all products produced by the Company are built in its three large
manufacturing plants in the US and one in India. Thanks to a solid
record of consistent profitability and steady growth since its founding
in 1986, Holtec has no history of any long-term debt and enjoys a
platinum credit rating from the financial markets. Nearly 100 US and
international patents protect the Company’s intellectual property from
predation by its global competitors and lend predictable stability to
its business base. To learn more about Holtec International, visit: www.holtecinternational.com
About Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI)
CDI provides comprehensive project solutions for the accelerated
retirement of nuclear power plants. CDI’s global operations provide
expertise and technological innovation to protect the public in an
environmentally responsible, safe and ethical manner. The joint venture
is committed to the enrichment of the communities in which it operates,
employing financially sustainable business practices that ensure the
upholding of obligations made as a trusted steward of legacy nuclear
materials. To learn more about CDI, visit: www.cdi-decom.com
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180731005529/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2018