Fastest-Growing Nuclear Business Is Tearing Down U.S. Plants
- Decommissioning specialists increasingly buy up closed plants
- Job done in years not decades, and for half the expected cost
The spent fuel pool stores fuel assemblies at the Entergy Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon on Oct. 2
Photographer: Craig F. Walker/The Boston Globe via Getty ImagesThis article is for subscribers only.
The fastest growing part of the nuclear industry in the U.S. involves a small but expanding group of companies that specialize in tearing reactors down faster and cheaper than ever before.
After Entergy Corp. shut its Vermont nuclear plant in 2014, the utility planned to wait until 2068 to dismantle it using a $510 million decommissioning trust fund that would appreciate over time to cover $1.2 billion in anticipated costs. Instead, Entergy sold the plant in January to Northstar Group Services Inc., which plans to do the job by 2026 at a much reduced cost.