GE Hitachi bags contract to decommission Massachusetts nuclear plant

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has been awarded a contract by Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI) to decommission the reactor internals and reactor pressure vessel at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

GEH will dismantle, segment and pack reactor internals and the reactor pressure vessel of the boiling water reactor that was shut down in May 2019. All handling and segmentation will be carried out underwater and will be accomplished using the Primary Segmentation System that was designed in conjunction with REI Nuclear. GEH acquired the business and certain assets of REI Nuclear in December 2018.

On August 26, 2019, Holtec International’s subsidiaries completed the acquisition of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from Entergy Corporation. This followed the approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to transfer the plant’s operating license to Holtec subsidiaries Holtec Pilgrim, LLC as the owner, and Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (HDI) as the license holder and decommissioning operator for the plant. Holtec will contract with CDI, a joint venture company of Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin, to perform the decommissioning, including demolition and site cleanup.

GEH recently completed the segmentation of reactor internals at Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant (OKG) Unit 2 in Sweden and is now conducting the segmentation of OKG Unit 1.

In July 2019 GEH was awarded a contract by CDI to decommission reactor internals and the reactor pressure vessel at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in Lacey Township, New Jersey.

Comprehensive Decommissioning International (CDI), is a joint venture company of Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin  headquartered in Camden, New Jersey. CDI is a Decommissioning General Contractor (DGC); the organization that will carry out the decontamination and dismantlement work at Holtec’s decommissioning facilities. CDI is dedicated to the safe, efficient, and compliant decommissioning of shuttered nuclear plants. The DGC manages onsite day to day activities. Within CDI, Holtec and SNC-Lavalin possess a combined 60 years’ expertise in decommissioning project management, nuclear fuel handling and site remediation.

CDI’s approach is the timely decommissioning of retired nuclear power plants by applying today’s innovative technologies toward a safer and more predictable decommissioning program. In some locations, the application of new technology may enable the partial release of sites for unrestricted use within eight years after regulatory approvals (apart from the interim spent fuel storage installation).