Camden-based Comprehensive Decommissioning International, a joint venture between Holtec International and SNC-Lavalin, announced Tuesday it has been awarded its first commercial contract by Holtec Decommissioning International to decommission the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey Township.
Earlier Tuesday, Exelon Generation and Holtec International announced the conditional sale of the station to a Holtec subsidiary.
Under the contract, CDI will be tasked with decommissioning, demolishing and cleaning up the plant beginning this year. CDI will seek to perform the decommissioning faster and more cost effectively than the original plan proposed by Exelon, it said.
“CDI is pleased to welcome approximately 200 former Exelon employees to our team,” Kelly Trice, president, CDI, said. “Their knowledge of the local community and the Oyster Creek plant, coupled with CDI’s accelerated decommissioning approach will ensure we restore the site for re-use in the shortest possible time.”
The site is expected to be efficiently decommissioned and dismantled in less than 10 years, CDI said.
“This is just the beginning of what we know is a bright future for CDI in reactor decommissioning, and a great example of the services-based contracts CDI can undertake,” Sandy Taylor, president, nuclear, SNC-Lavalin, said. “We are strong proponents of the future of carbon-free, nuclear power around the world, be it through the industry-leading expertise and technologies that we bring to nuclear new build and life-extending refurbishment projects, however, decommissioning is also becoming a significant part of our business. In the US alone, there are almost 100 nuclear reactors.”
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of the Oyster Creek licence from Exelon to Holtec in June 2019 and plant ownership was transferred on July 1.
