Hello Mr. Epstein,
Your questions were address in the Peach Bottom decommissioning presubmittal public meeting. The meeting summary can be found under ADAMS accession number ML23187A474. I am attaching it for your convenience.
Paragraph 4 on page 2 of the summary was provided to support your concern regarding decommissioning cost. I am adding the paragraph for your convenience.
There are many factors that affect reactor decommissioning costs. The minimum
decommissioning funding assurance amount must be adjusted annually by applying the latest
escalation factors for labor, energy, and waste burial costs. On page 53, the licensee estimated
that $275.417M in decommissioning expenditures remained as of December 31, 2022. The
licensee also reported that $145.438M was the balance of the trust as of December 31, 2022.
This compares to a balance of $159.188M in the trust as of December 31, 2021, which was
reported by the licensee on page 14 of the financial assurance status report submitted to the
NRC on March 23, 2022 (ADAMS Accession No. ML22082A227). This reflects an 8.6% decline
in the decommissioning trust fund balance from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022.
There are no contracts the NRC relies upon pursuant to 10 CFR 50.75(e)(1)(v). As a result, we cannot provide a response to that identifies the amount Constellation received from the federal government relating to Department of Energy.
Paragraph 5 on page 2 of the summary was provided to support your concern regarding the decline in the amount of the trust fund balance. I am adding the paragraph for your convenience.
The Peach Bottom Unit 1 Trust experienced losses consistent with, and even less than, the
broad market equity indexes (S&P 500 experienced a loss of 18.11% in 2022) and the broad
bond/fixed income index (Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate [AGG] index, which experienced a loss of
13% in 2022). The statement as to the decline in the decommissioning trust fund balance in
view of broad, negative market returns does not consider contributions provided by the public
utility commission into the trust in 2022 nor withdrawals by the licensee in addressing
decommissioning expenditures in 2022. The NRC staff finds these outcomes reasonable and to
date, the information evaluated by the NRC staff does not raise concerns.
The last paragraph on page 2 of the summary was provided to support your concern regarding “Qualified Funds” and “Non-Qualified Funds.” I am adding the paragraph for your convenience.
There was a question regarding the funding levels as of December 31, 2022, for the “Qualified
Funds” and “Non-Qualified Funds” as well as the net gap in funding for site termination.
Information regarding this was not provided by the licensee, and thus was not available to the
NRC staff. The NRC staff is currently evaluating the March 2023 submission by the licensee to
determine if any shortfall/funding gap exists at the Peach Bottom Unit 1 site.
The Peach Bottom plant was shutdown on October 31, 1974. All spent fuel has been removed from the site, and the spent fuel pool is drained and decontaminated. The Department of Energy has possession of spent fuel rods at their facility. Idaho National Laboratory has been safely housing spent nuclear fuel for decades.
Assuming an off-site, high-level radioactive waste site is tied to the licensees discretion. The NRC has no submittal docketed from the licensee regarding this question.
Thank you for submitting your questions. For future reference, there is always a telephone number associated with public meetings that is posted on the agencies public meeting website that you can use to call into the meeting.
Tanya E. Hood
Project Manager
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
11555 Rockville Pike
Rockville, Maryland 20852-2738
