ADP CR3 gets go ahead for Crystal River-3 D&DRadwaste SolutionsWaste ManagementApril 1, 2020, 11:04AM|Nuclear News StaffThe NRC approved the transfer of the reactor's license to ADP CR3 for decommissioning.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the license transfer for the Crystal River-3 nuclear power plant from Duke Energy Florida to ADP CR3, enabling active decommissioning of the shuttered nuclear power plant, the agency announced on April 1.The backstory:Duke permanently ceased operations at Florida’s Crystal River-3, an 860-MWe pressurized water reactor, in 2013. In June 2019, the company applied to the NRC to transfer the plant’s license to ADP CR3, a subsidiary of Accelerated Decommissioning Partners, a joint venture of NorthStar Group Services and Orano Decommissioning Holdings. Under its agreement with ADP CR3, Duke will remain the owner of the nuclear power plant, property, and equipment and will retain ownership and control of the trust fund that pays for the decommissioning. ADP CR3 will become the NRC licensee responsible for decommissioning the plant in compliance with all state and federal regulations.What it means: ADP CR3 joins a number of private companies, including Utah-based EnergySolutions and Holtec International, that are taking over the licenses of closed nuclear power plants, or acquiring them outright, for the purpose of decommissioning. The model relieves utilities of the burden of decommissioning the reactors themselves. It also enables plant owners to remediate the sites faster than would otherwise be possible, with the third-party decommissioning companies often committing to completing the cleanup of shutdown reactors at an accelerated pace. According to Orano, ADP applies its member companies’ decades of decommissioning expertise to remove nuclear reactor site buildings, components, and structures decades earlier than allowed under the NRC’s SAFSTOR process, enabling the restored site to be used for potential further economic development. ADP CR3 plans to complete the decommissioning of Crystal River-3 by 2027.Tags:adp cr3crystal riverd&dShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Siphoning D&D lessons from the oil and gas industryThe Deepsea Delta oil-drilling platform in the North Sea. Photo: Wikimedia CommonsNuclear decommissioning projects can benefit from the lessons learned in the fossil fuel industry, according to a December 8 Reuters Events post that draws heavily from an article published in the ANS magazine Radwaste Solutions.Reuters reporter Paul Day interviewed the authors of “Tapping Nonnuclear Knowledge,” which appeared in the Fall 2020 issue of RS and examines research being done on cross-sector learning between nuclear and oil and gas decommissioning projects, particularly the mega projects of decommissioning nuclear power plants and offshore oil rigs.Go to Article
Orano, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to cooperate on nuclear D&DOrano's Alain Vandercruyssen signs a cooperation agreement with KHNP on December 4. Photo: ORANOWith the signing of a cooperation agreement by Orano and Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power at KHNP’s headquarters in Gyeongju on December 4, France and South Korea are poised to enhance collaboration in the decontamination and decommissioning of nuclear facilities, particularly in South Korea and Europe.Orano said that the collaboration will give it access to the expertise of KHNP engineers, as well as to KHNP’s network of providers of nuclear engineering services, particularly in the fields of robotics, process industrialization, and quality.KHNP, in return, will benefit from Orano’s experience in preparing and carrying out nuclear dismantling, with the company providing technical assistance and supplying skills and training. South Korean engineers will be included in the Orano dismantling and services teams.Go to Article
Savannah River's Ford Building comes downDemolition of the Ford Building at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina has been completed, Savannah River Nuclear Solutions (SRNS) announced on November 18. The large metal storage building formerly contained mechanical systems used during the Cold War to remotely raise and lower control rods within nuclear reactor vessels.Workers have also sealed the Ford Building’s original concrete flooring with six inches of new concrete. Teardown of the facility brings the number of structures that have been deactivated and decommissioned at the site to 292.Go to Article
Crystal River-3 operating license transferred to decommissioning companyThe Crystal River-3 nuclear power plantDuke Energy and Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP) on October 1 announced the completion of a transaction to begin decontaminating and dismantling the Crystal River-3 nuclear power plant this year instead of in 2067. ADP, a joint venture of NorthStar Group Services and Orano USA formed in 2017, was chosen by Duke Energy in 2019 to complete the decommissioning of the pressurized water reactor by 2027—nearly 50 years sooner than originally planned.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of Crystal River’s operating license from Duke Energy to ADP on April 1, and the Florida Public Service Commission unanimously approved the transaction on August 18. Duke Energy permanently ceased operations at Crystal River-3, in Citrus County, Fla., in 2013, initially placing the reactor in safe storage (SAFSTOR), whereby the decommissioning work would begin in 2067 and end by 2074.Go to Article
A last look at Fort Belvoir’s SM-1 reactorA series of photos published by the Washingtonian on September 22 capture rarely seen images of Fort Belvoir’s SM-1 reactor, the U.S. Army’s first nuclear reactor and the first facility in the United States to provide nuclear-generated power to the commercial grid for a sustained period. These images may be some of the last photos of SM-1, as crews are set to begin decommissioning and dismantling the nuclear facility early next year. Go to Article
Historic Fort Belvoir SM-1 reactor to be decommissionedAerial view of the SM-1 nuclear power plant at Fort Belvoir in the 1960s. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded a contract for the final decommissioning, dismantling, and disposal of the facility.The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced on August 28 that it has awarded a contract worth about $68 million to the joint venture APTIM AECOM Decommissioning, of Alexandria, Va., for the decommissioning, dismantling, and disposal of the deactivated SM-1 nuclear power plant.SM-1, located at Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Va., was the U.S. Army’s first nuclear reactor and the first facility in the United States to provide nuclear-generated power for a sustained period to the commercial grid.Decommissioning crews are expected to begin mobilizing in early 2021, and the work is anticipated to take about five years to complete, according to the USACE.Go to Article
Florida PSC clears way for accelerated Crystal River-3 D&DCrystal River-3 as it is now and how Duke Energy envisions the site will look by 2027.The Florida Public Service Commission voted unanimously on August 18 to approve Duke Energy Florida’s plan to accelerate the decontamination and decommissioning of its Crystal River-3 nuclear power plant. The commission vote marks the final regulatory approval needed to finalize, in October, Duke Energy’s contract with Accelerated Decommissioning Partners (ADP). According to Duke Energy, ADP will complete the decommissioning by 2027, rather than the 2074 date that was originally announced.Duke Energy permanently ceased operations at Crystal River-3 in 2013 and, in June 2019, the company applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to transfer the reactor’s license to ADP, a joint venture of NorthStar Group Services and Orano Decommissioning Holdings. The NRC approved the license transfer in April. NorthStar will also be contracted to demolish the permanently shut down coal-fired Crystal River-1 and -2.Go to Article
Orano dismantles France’s Ulysse research reactorThe Ulysse reactor before dismantling. Photo: OranoA five-year project to dismantle the Ulysse experimental nuclear reactor at the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission’s (CEA) Saclay nuclear research site near Paris has been completed, according to an Orano press release on June 22. Orano was contracted to decommission the low-power research and training reactor.Go to Article
Waste Management Conference: Focused on the future2020 Waste Management Conference plenary speakers included (from left) Michael Lempke, of Huntington Ingalls Industries, William Magwood, of the NEA, and the DOE’s William “Ike” White. Photo: WM Symposia/Flash Gordon.The 2020 Waste Management Conference, held March 8–12 in Phoenix, Ariz., kicked off just days before the World Health Organization declared the spread of the novel coronavirus a pandemic. When the conference began, it was still unclear how extensive the coronavirus outbreak would be, and meeting organizers later learned that two attendees were tested for COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, in the days following the meeting. Fortunately, neither of the attendees tested positive.Go to Article
Pennsylvania contesting Three Mile Island Unit 2 license transferPennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is intervening in the proceeding for FirstEnergy Corporation’s application to transfer the license for Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to an EnergySolutions subsidiary for decommissioning. The Pennsylvania DEP filed its petition to intervene in the transfer of TMI-2’s possession only license, along with a request to extend the time to file a request for a hearing, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.Go to Article