AREVA Nuclear Materials Signs Contract with NorthStar for the Segmentation, Packaging and Transport of Vermont Yankee Reactor Vessel and Reactor Internals

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–AREVA Nuclear Materials signed a contract with NorthStar to segment,
package and transport to offsite disposal the Vermont Yankee reactor
pressure vessel and internal reactor components. The contract formalizes
ANM’s support to NorthStar’s plan, announced last November, to acquire
Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) and to accelerate the
decommissioning and site restoration of Vermont Yankee by decades,
subject to receipt of the necessary regulatory approvals.

To segment and dismantle the radioactive reactor internals, still
shielded by being underwater inside the reactor pressure vessel, ANM’s
trained teams will use a variety of remotely operated underwater tools
specifically designed for nuclear decommissioning and proven effective
in various projects in the United States and Germany. The segmented
reactor parts will then be moved underwater and packaged in shielded
radwaste canisters submerged in the reactor pool. Once loaded and
capped, the canisters will be lifted from the pool, cleared of all
internal water and moisture, externally decontaminated, sealed inside
shielded transport casks, and then transported to secure disposal at the
Waste Control Specialists (WCS) facility in Texas.

Vermont Yankee’s reactor pressure vessel is a large steel cylinder with
5-inch thick walls about as long as a 54-foot semi-truck and trailer,
and twice the width of the trailer. After removal of the reactor
internals, the vessel segmentation will precisely cut the component into
large pieces, each specifically designed in final shape and weight to
fulfill regulatory requirements for offsite transport and disposal.

“Our decades of experience decommissioning large nuclear reactors and
our proven dismantling technologies provide the certainty required to
execute this critical step in the safe and efficient removal of the
reactor from the Vermont Yankee site,” said Sam Shakir, ANM president
and CEO. “In addition to contracting for this Vermont Yankee work, we
are excited about the expanded partnership we are forging with NorthStar
in the decommissioning market.”

In February 2017, AREVA Nuclear Materials and NorthStar announced the
joint venture Accelerated Decommissioning Partners to acquire and
decommission shutdown nuclear reactor facilities and their used fuel.
Now, ADP is progressing on completing an agreement by the end of the
year to acquire two U.S. reactor sites following shutdown.

ADP combines the core competencies of ANM’s nuclear component
dismantling and used fuel management with NorthStar’s extensive
demolition and environmental remediation expertise to efficiently
complete the final stage of shutdown reactor sites.

AREVA Nuclear Materials, LLC, is part of the global New AREVA company
and includes more than 560 employees located at multiple sites across
the United States. Learn more at us.areva.com/ANM
and @AREVAus.

New AREVA transforms nuclear materials so that they can be used to
support the development of society, first and foremost in the field of
energy. The group offers products, technologies and services with high
added value throughout the entire nuclear fuel cycle, with activities
encompassing mining, uranium chemistry, enrichment, used fuel recycling,
logistics, decommissioning, and engineering services. New AREVA and its
20,000 employees bring to bear their expertise and their mastery of
cutting-edge technology, as well as their permanent search for
innovation and their unwavering dedication to safety, to serve their
customers worldwide.

Contacts

AREVA Nuclear Materials
Curtis Roberts
Press Officer
202-374-8766
[email protected]