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webfarmerVermont Yankee Decommissioning May Have to Wait 60 Years - Vermont Public Radio - 30 Oct 08
"The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant says it will have to wait almost 60 years before it has enough money to decommission the plant. Faced with that lengthy timeline, lawmakers are likely to try again to force Yankee to set aside funds for decommissioning."
TVA Fund for Cleanup Takes a Hit - Tennessean - 08 Nov 08
"'We've got quite a mess brewing here,' said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project for the nonprofit Beyond Nuclear, 'and we're only able to see the tip of the iceberg.' Going into this financial crisis, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not have a handle on verifying the status and veracity of decommissioning funds for the nation's nuclear plants. 'That problem has only been exacerbated by the stock market diving.'
Steve Kerekes, spokes man for the industry's Nuclear Energy Institute, said the funds are like a 401(k) and are a 'pretty safe bet' to bounce back. 'The fact that there are folks out there who want to seize upon this to suddenly attack nuclear power plants when we're in the midst of the biggest financial crisis in 50 years is opportunistic,' he said.
TVA [the Tennessee Valley Authority], which gets 33 percent of the electricity it sells from nuclear plants and 63 percent from coal, has said in the past that it has adequate funds to deal with the plants. The agency operates six reactors at three plants and has one more reactor under construction. The fund won't begin to be needed until at least 2020, when the first reactor could be scheduled for closure, Francis said. 'You've got 20 years more to accumulate funds. You've got time to adjust.'"
"Vermont, where a public service agency representing rate payers holds sway over utilities, has begun requiring monthly financial reports on the Yankee Nuclear Plant's decommissioning fund. That happened after state officials learned, after repeated requests this year for information from its owner, Entergy, that the fund had dropped 10 percent.
The company's options, unless it can extend the plant's life, include mothballing it for up to 60 years while the fund grows and radioactivity subsides. The NRC allows this process, which is called SAFESTOR, for old nuclear plants for up to 60 years before they must be cut up and removed. Another option is 'entombment' of radioactive components in concrete for the long term."
"The owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant says it will have to wait almost 60 years before it has enough money to decommission the plant. Faced with that lengthy timeline, lawmakers are likely to try again to force Yankee to set aside funds for decommissioning."
TVA Fund for Cleanup Takes a Hit - Tennessean - 08 Nov 08
"'We've got quite a mess brewing here,' said Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project for the nonprofit Beyond Nuclear, 'and we're only able to see the tip of the iceberg.' Going into this financial crisis, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission did not have a handle on verifying the status and veracity of decommissioning funds for the nation's nuclear plants. 'That problem has only been exacerbated by the stock market diving.'
Steve Kerekes, spokes man for the industry's Nuclear Energy Institute, said the funds are like a 401(k) and are a 'pretty safe bet' to bounce back. 'The fact that there are folks out there who want to seize upon this to suddenly attack nuclear power plants when we're in the midst of the biggest financial crisis in 50 years is opportunistic,' he said.
TVA [the Tennessee Valley Authority], which gets 33 percent of the electricity it sells from nuclear plants and 63 percent from coal, has said in the past that it has adequate funds to deal with the plants. The agency operates six reactors at three plants and has one more reactor under construction. The fund won't begin to be needed until at least 2020, when the first reactor could be scheduled for closure, Francis said. 'You've got 20 years more to accumulate funds. You've got time to adjust.'"
"Vermont, where a public service agency representing rate payers holds sway over utilities, has begun requiring monthly financial reports on the Yankee Nuclear Plant's decommissioning fund. That happened after state officials learned, after repeated requests this year for information from its owner, Entergy, that the fund had dropped 10 percent.
The company's options, unless it can extend the plant's life, include mothballing it for up to 60 years while the fund grows and radioactivity subsides. The NRC allows this process, which is called SAFESTOR, for old nuclear plants for up to 60 years before they must be cut up and removed. Another option is 'entombment' of radioactive components in concrete for the long term."
