Exelon Nuclear will seek to accelerate
the decommissioning of Zion
Station in Illinois more than a decade
sooner than originally planned,
the company announced last week.
Exelon has contracted with
Utah-based EnergySolutions to dismantle
the shut down nuclear plant,
which involves removing the two
reactors, all structures and support
buildings and preparing the site for
other uses. Zion has not produced
power since 1998.
The NRC must approve the arrangement.
The company expects to
learn of the NRC's decision during
the second half of 2008. The parties
also are seeking a favorable ruling
from the Internal Revenue Service
about the transfer of tax-qualified
decommissioning funds.
At this point, this decision does
not affect employees. The company
will host face-to-face meetings with
Zion employees between now and
the pending NRC decision to share
additional information with them.
The company will also host community
information nights in the Zion
area.
The agreement calls for the station's
license and decommissioning
funds to be transferred to EnergySolutions,
which would dismantle the
plant, remove all structures, components
and debris and return the site
to close to its original state. When
the project is complete, expected by
2018, EnergySolutions would return
the property to Exelon for other
uses. Exelon has not yet determined
what it will do with the land when
decommissioning is complete.
Used nuclear fuel stored in the
station's fuel pool would be moved
to a dry cask storage facility to be
built on the property at least 400 feet
farther from the lakeshore. Such independent
fuel storage facilities are
licensed by the NRC and exist at 39
plants nationwide, including five of
Exelon's nuclear stations. The Zion
used fuel storage facility would be
mostly hidden from view by earth
berms and natural landscaping.
Exelon's previous plans called for
decommissioning the plant in the
mid 2020s to early 2030s, and possibly
as late as 2058. The earlier decommissioning
is possible because
EnergySolutions is capable of planning
and managing the decommissioning
and disposing of all material
at a lower cost. EnergySolutions
owns its own low-level waste disposal
facility in Clive, Utah.
Throughout the process, Zion's
used fuel would remain under Exelon's
ownership and control. With
or without early decommissioning,
the fuel will remain stored on the
Zion property until the U.S. Department
of Energy takes possession of
and removes it as required under federal
law.
"Story copied from Exelon Inside Nuclear News magazine"
