NRC approves Oyster Creek sale to Holtec

Above: As the nation's nuclear plants close, a new industry has sprouted. 

Holtec Decommissioning International received approval to take control of the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant from Exelon Generation, paving the way for  Newark-based Holtec to decommission the Lacey plant and profit from its decommissioning fund. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licenses commercial nuclear reactors throughout the United States, announced the approval Thursday afternoon.

Under the agreement, a new company, Oyster Creek Environmental Protection (OCEP), will act as owner while Holtec will serve as the decommissioning operator, the NRC said in a news release.

"In reviewing the license transfer application, the NRC staff considered OCEP’s and HDI’s (Holtec Decommissioning International's) technical and financial qualifications, the adequacy of Oyster Creek’s decommissioning trust funds to complete the radiological decommissioning of the plant," NRC officials said in the news release. 

The regulatory agency also considered plans to manage the site's spent fuel storage area, where nearly a half-century of radioactive spent fuel is kept in concrete and steel casks.

NRC staff said OCEP and Holtec met all the "regulatory, legal, technical and financial requirements" to qualify for the license transfer.

The license transfer would put Holtec in charge of Oyster Creek's nearly $1 billion decommissioning fund. 

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Exelon originally had planned to let the power plant sit for 60 years before decommissioning the reactor and structures. The time would allow some of the plant's dangerous radioactivity to decay to safer levels and reduce some of the risk of worker exposure.

Holtec, in contrast, intends to decommission the plant in a mere eight years by using a new cask design that can hold hotter fuel in storage and by removing spent fuel from the cooling pool sooner. 

The faster decommissioning plan is welcomed by local officials, who are eager to keep the property taxes high on the plant's site and provide jobs to the region.

Holtec also has an application pending with the NRC to buy Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, and its $1.85 billion trust fund. 

Kris Singh, president of Holtec, called the approval a "significant achievement for our company."

"Approval of the license transfer in a mere nine months from the date of application is a testament to the strong regulatory and financial profile of our company, the quality of our submittal to the NRC and the organizational efficiency of the NRC," he said in a news release.

The sale is expected to be complete in July, according to Holtec. 

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Amanda Oglesby is an Ocean County native who covers Brick, Barnegat and Lacey townships as well as the environment. She has worked for the Press for more than a decade. Reach her at @OglesbyAPP, aoglesby@gannettnj.com or 732-557-5701.