Nuclear Street - Nuclear Power Plant News, Jobs, and Careers

Exelon Generation, owner and operator of the Byron and Dresden nuclear energy facilities, announced Wednesday that it would file Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activity Reports (PSDARs) today with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, detailing long-term site restoration plans for both stations after they shut down this fall.

The filings are among the final steps in retiring the plants, which face revenue shortfalls in the hundreds of millions of dollars "due to low energy prices and market policies that give fossil fuel plants an unfair competitive advantage." Exelon said in a press release.

The company had been lobbying state legislators to approve of a subsidy plan that would stave off closure of two of the state's most significant carbon-free energy producers. Despite raging and record-setting wildfires in the west and unprecedented storm activities and heat waves in the United States and Canada, the state government failed to act on a rescue package.

"Absent a legislative solution, these same market inequities will force the company to close its Braidwood and LaSalle nuclear facilities sometime in the next few years," warned Exelon.

The closures will also have significant economic impacts. "With the PSDARs complete, Exelon Generation is now preparing to issue job reduction notifications to employees impacted by the plant shutdowns. Staffing at the plants will fall from nearly 1,500 employees when the plant retirements were announced last August, to just 30-40 employees over the next 10 years," the statement said.

With just weeks to go before the first of the plants permanently closes, policymakers continue working on legislation that would preserve all four of the plants as part of a comprehensive plan to maintain and grow clean-energy jobs, keep energy bills affordable and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The Chicago-area plants support 28,000 direct and indirect jobs and contribute $3.5 billion annually to Illinois' economy. Closing the two plants will have the immediate environmental impact equivalent to putting 4.4 million additional cars on the road, emitting carbon and other harmful sources of air pollution.

"With no signs of a breakthrough on clean energy legislation in Springfield, we have no choice but to take these final steps in preparation for shutting down the plants," said Exelon Generation Chief Nuclear Officer Dave Rhoades. "We will never stop fighting for policies to preserve Illinois' nuclear fleet, knowing that the minute these plants close our customers will experience dirtier air and higher energy costs. But with time running out, we must plan for the future and do everything we can to prepare our employees and the communities they serve for what lies ahead."

As part of the decommissioning process, Exelon Generation has up to 60 years to restore Byron and Dresden, which includes transporting the stations' used fuel to long-term storage, decontaminating and removing plant components and razing the remaining buildings.

PJM, the regional grid operator, has confirmed that both plants can retire without putting overall grid reliability at risk. However, the massive loss of in-state clean generation means Illinois will have to rely more on fossil energy located in environmental justice communities and in surrounding states to meet the needs of Illinois homes and businesses. Increased production from fossil plants will increase carbon and other harmful emissions and force Illinois consumers to support jobs in other states through their energy bills.

The PSDAR filing with the NRC is one of the few remaining regulatory milestones required before closing the plants. Byron is scheduled to shut down in September and Dresden in November.