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Federal regulators have tentatively ruled that three nuclear power plants owned by Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc., including the shuttered Vermont Yankee plant, have enough money to safely operate and decommission.

The preliminary decision issued last week by Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff is a response to a petition by anti-nuclear groups calling for an investigation into the finances of Entergy’s FitzPatrick plant in New York, Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim in Massachusetts.

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Four anti-nuclear groups, including Vermont’s Citizens Action Network, filed a petition to the NRC in March 2013 calling on regulators to shut down FitzPatrick and Vermont Yankee because they said Entergy failed to meet financial qualification requirements needed to hold an operating license.

Attorney generals from New York, Massachusetts and Vermont filed letters to the NRC supporting the petition due to concerns over Entergy’s finances.

The groups cited a 2013 report by the Swiss financial services company UBS Securities that found “Entergy guidance clearly illustrates no cash generation from nukes.” UBS said the corporation “is unlikely to generate any meaningful cash” from wholesale commodities in 2013 and 2014, and UBS predicted deficits for the corporation in 2015 and 2016.

Entergy announced in late 2013 that it would close Vermont Yankee for economic reasons. It permanently shut down Dec. 29.

NRC denied the request to order a shutdown of FitzPatrick because it said Entergy has enough money to operate the plant safely. Entergy told the NRC that FitzPatrick and Pilgrim are generating positive revenue and that corporate revenue from other plants is available, if needed, to cover any operational expenses, according to the proposed decision.

“The petitioners’ request to shut down FitzPatrick and Vermont Yankee was denied because the facilities were found to be operating safely and additional actions are not required for the protection of public health and safety and the environment,” the proposed decision states.

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The groups also called for an investigation into Pilgrim’s financial health. The NRC then issued a voluntary request for information from Entergy. Entergy provided the NRC with the third quarter U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing for 2013.

“The NRC staff reviewed the information provided by ENO and found that the licensee’s current financial qualifications are adequate to continue safe operation at Pilgrim,” the NRC said.

Since Vermont Yankee closed, the state has questioned whether Entergy will be able to pay for the estimated $1.2 billion decommissioning process. The company will begin decommissioning the plant 120 days after the a decommissioning trust fund grows enough to cover the entire cost of the process. Entergy says decommissioning will begin by 2052 or sooner.

The petitioners asked the NRC to determine whether Entergy has enough money to decommission the plant. The NRC reviewed the company’s 2013 decommissioning funding status report and elected not to investigate further.

“Because the NRC staff has independently determined that both FitzPatrick and Vermont Yankee have sufficient funding available for decommissioning, no further investigation into ENO’s financial status is necessary to ensure the protection of the public health and safety and the environment,” the proposed decision states.





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