US NorthStar Group Services has agreed to accept transfer of ownership of the GEH Vallecitos Nuclear Centre, in California, from GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) for nuclear decontamination, decommissioning, and environmental site restoration. The deal should close after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approves the transfer including licence transfer from GEH to NorthStar and all other conditions.
“Our team has developed deep experience in the safe and efficient decontamination, decommissioning, and restoration of former nuclear reactor sites across the country, including the successful implementation of NRC Licence Termination Plans at five other research reactor sites nationwide,” said NorthStar CEO Scott State.
The agreement under which NorthStar will become the NRC-licensed owner of the research reactor complex, is modelled on NorthStar’s acquisition of the former Vermont Yankee NPP approved by NRC and state regulators in 2018. NorthStar’s decommissioning at Vermont Yankee is currently ahead of schedule for on-budget completion by 2026.
NorthStar will take over the decommissioning work that GEH has already started at the Vallecitos boiling water reactor, which was the first US privately owned and operated NPP to deliver electricity to a public utility grid. The site also includes a number of other test reactors, laboratories and hot cell facilities. NorthStar will restore the site to conditions suitable for commercial or industrial use. NorthStar anticipates being able to dispose of low-level radioactive waste from the Vallecitos decommissioning at the disposal facility operated by NorthStar affiliate Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, Texas.
NorthStar, through its Accelerated Decommissioning Partners joint venture, is also decommissioning the Crystal River 3 nuclear reactor complex in Florida under a contract with Duke Energy, following NRC and state regulatory approval in 2020.
The 1,600‑acre Vallecitos Nuclear Centre is a nuclear research facility and site of a former owned by GEH. The NPP operated from 1957 until 1963. From 1965 to 1975, the facility was used to conduct research for the Atomic Energy Commission’s Nuclear Energy Programme and the civilian nuclear power industry. AEC is a predecessor to the Department of Energy (DOE). Research was also undertaken between 1981 and 1982. DOE contract work was subsequently discontinued.
Waste removal from the Vallecitos centre tooke place in 2009 and 2010. Most of the nuclear waste generated from the decontamination work was transuranic waste (TRU) that consisted of clothing, tools, rags, debris, and other items contaminated with small amounts of radioactive TRU. The TRU waste was packaged and shipped to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in Carlsbad, New Mexico, for permanent disposal.
