The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s citation against the decommissioned Connecticut Yankee nuclear station in Haddam Neck won’t impact the proposed merger between Northeast Utilities and NStar, even though the merger led to the citation, NU says.
When NRC was reviewing the NU/NStar merger for approval, the nuclear regulators discovered Connecticut Yankee was partially owned by foreign companies, which is a violation of federal law.
Connecticut Yankee has been partially foreign-owned since 2000 when London-based National Grid acquired the New England Electric System, and NRC officials decided to issue the violation after its merger review.
The issue arose about a year ago as well as the facility and the NRC battle over whether the foreign ownership rules apply to decommissioned plants with nothing but spent nuclear fuel left on the property.
“We don’t agree that the spent nuclear fuel canisters are subject to foreign control, or that they are subject to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements,” said Robert Capstick, Connecticut Yankee spokesman.
The violation applies to all three decommissioned nuclear plants owned by the Yankee Atomic Power Co., which is a conglomeration of New England electric utilities. The other two facilities are Yankee Rowe in Massachusetts and Maine Yankee. The violation does not include a fine.
NU, based in Hartford, owns a 49 percent in Connecticut Yankee through its electric subsidiaries, and will become a majority owner once it merges with NStar of Boston. The NRC approved the merger in December.
“The violation doesn’t impact the previous decision on the merger,” NU spokesman Al Lara said. NU and NStar still need the approval of state utility regulators in Connecticut and Massachusetts before the merger is finalized.
Connecticut Yankee started operation as a nuclear power plant in 1968 and operated for 28 years. The dismantling and decommission of the plant finished in 2007, but it remains a nuclear facility because of the 412 metric tons of spent uranium stores on the site.
The U.S. Department of Energy was supposed to start moving that nuclear waste to a permanent repository starting in 1998, but that repository never was developed.
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