ML23187A474
| ML23187A474 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/24/2023 |
| From: | Tanya Hood Reactor Decommissioning Branch |
| To: | Shaun Anderson Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards |
| References | |
| Download: ML23187A474 (5) | |
Text
July 24, 2023 MEMORANDUM TO: Shaun M. Anderson, Chief Reactor Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Signed by Hood, Tanya FROM: Tanya E. Hood, Project Manager on 07/24/23 Reactor Decommissioning Branch Division of Decommissioning, Uranium Recovery and Waste Programs Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
SUBJECT:
SUMMARY
OF JUNE 29, 2023, PUBLIC MEETING TO DISCUSS STATUS OF DECOMMISSIONING AND THE LICENSE TERMINATION PLANS FOR THE PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNIT 1 On June 29, 2023, a virtual public meeting was held between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (licensee) to provide a status update to the NRC regarding the decommissioning and license termination plans for the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 1 (Peach Bottom Unit 1).
The meeting notice and agenda, posted June 07, 2023, are available in the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at Accession No. ML23157A322 and are posted on the NRCs public Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. The presentation material provided by the licensee are available on the meeting notice. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the meeting materials located in ADAMS should contact the NRC Public Document Room reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209 or by email to PDR.Resource@nrc.gov.
During the meeting, the licensee presented a high-level overview of the current status of the Peach Bottom Unit 1 site. Peach Bottom Unit 1 is currently in SAFSTOR. SAFSTOR is a long-term storage condition for a permanently shutdown nuclear power plant. During SAFSTOR, radioactive contamination decreases substantially, making subsequent decontamination and demolition easier and reducing the amount of low-level waste requiring disposal.
CONTACT: Tanya Hood, NMSS/DUWP 301-415-1387
S. Anderson Peach Bottom Unit 1 has a possession-only license from the NRC that authorizes the licensee to possess specific nuclear material but does not authorize its use or the operation of a nuclear facility. The licensee indicated that they plan to submit a license amendment request (LAR) the amend license condition C. (1) and Technical Specifications (TS) which preclude decommissioning activities without prior NRC approval. License Condition C. (1) stipulates that
[the licensee] shall not dismantle or dispose of the facility without prior approval from the NRC. TS Section 1.0 stipulates that The only activity carried on within the Exclusion Area shall be routine and emergency inspections and maintenance.
The licensee indicated that they planned to submit the proposed LAR in late summer or early fall for the NRC staff for approval. The licensee indicated a desire to follow the post-shutdown decommissioning activities report (PSDAR) process using Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.185, Standard Format and Content for Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report. The NRC staff asked if the licensee planned to submit a document resembling the PSDAR which would be an effective communication tool for the NRC, State, and local community since the last discussion regarding something similar took place June 29, 1998.
Approximately 31 representatives from industry, state government, and NRC participated in the meeting. A list of the meeting attendees is enclosed. Members of the public were invited to attend. One person provided comments asking about the decommissioning funding for Peach Bottom Unit 1. The decommissioning trust fund is established before a nuclear power plant begins operations to ensure there will be sufficient money to pay for the eventual decommissioning of the facility. The licensee must submit an annual financial assurance status report. The licensee submitted this report on March 23, 2023 and it is available for public viewing under ADAMS Accession No. ML23082A312.
There are many factors that affect reactor decommissioning costs. The minimum decommissioning funding assurance amount must be adjusted annually by applying the latest escalation factors for labor, energy, and waste burial costs. On page 53, the licensee estimated that $275.417M in decommissioning expenditures remained as of December 31, 2022. The licensee also reported that $145.438M was the balance of the trust as of December 31, 2022.
This compares to a balance of $159.188M in the trust as of December 31, 2021, which was reported by the licensee on page 14 of the financial assurance status report submitted to the NRC on March 23, 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22082A227). This reflects an 8.6% decline in the decommissioning trust fund balance from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022.
The Peach Bottom Unit 1 Trust experienced losses consistent with, and even less than, the broad market equity indexes (S&P 500 experienced a loss of 18.11% in 2022) and the broad bond/fixed income index (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate [AGG] index, which experienced a loss of 13% in 2022). The statement as to the decline in the decommissioning trust fund balance in view of broad, negative market returns does not consider contributions provided by the public utility commission into the trust in 2022 nor withdrawals by the licensee in addressing decommissioning expenditures in 2022. The NRC staff finds these outcomes reasonable and to date, the information evaluated by the NRC staff does not raise concerns.
There was a question regarding the funding levels as of December 31, 2022, for the Qualified Funds and Non-Qualified Funds as well as the net gap in funding for site termination.
Information regarding this was not provided by the licensee, and thus was not available to the NRC staff. The NRC staff is currently evaluating the March 2023 submission by the licensee to determine if any shortfall/funding gap exists at the Peach Bottom Unit 1 site.
S. Anderson No public meeting feedback forms were received. Please direct any inquiries to me at (301) 415-1387 or Tanya.Hood@nrc.gov.
Enclosure:
List of Attendees
ML23187A473 OFFICE NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NMSS/DUWP/RDB/BC NMSS/DUWP/RDB/PM NAME THood SAnderson THood DATE 07/03/2023 07/12/2023 07/24/2023 LIST OF ATTENDEES JUNE 29, 2023, PRE-SUBMITTAL PUBLIC MEETING WITH CONSTELLATION ENERGY GENERATION, LLC RE: PEACH BOTTOM ATOMIC POWER STATION, UNIT 1 Name Organization Audrey Klett U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
Bruce Watson NRC Christine Pineda NRC Devin Bradshaw NRC Duane White NRC Francis Peduzzi NRC Fred Miller NRC George Smith NRC Gregory Chapman NRC Jeff Bream NRC Lisa Dimmick NRC Kathryn Robertson-DeMers NRC Karen Pinkston NRC Kristina Banovac NRC Katherine Warner NRC Michael Norris NRC Orysia Masnyk Bailey NRC Richard Turtil NRC Shaun Anderson NRC Stephen Hammann NRC Suzanne Dennis NRC Tanya Hood NRC Vince Williams NRC Amy Huber Constellation Energy Generation, LLC (Constellation)
Patricia Henry Constellation Patrick Mullens Constellation Richard Gropp Jr Constellation Bryan Werner Public Elizabeth DeOrnellas Public Jana Bergman Public Mike Callahan Public Rich Janati Public Enclosure