Advertisement OPPD board votes to shut down Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Omaha Public Power District has voted to shutter the nuclear power plant in Fort Calhoun, the nation's smallest.The power utility said in a written statement Thursday that the board decided it was in the best financial interest of the utility and its customers to close the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station by the end of this year."It's a wake, but there's light at the end of the tunnel and it's a change," said OPPD board member Thomas Barrett. "It's a positive change for OPPD."The utility says the closure is expected to keep the general rate from increasing through 2021.Once closed, a nuclear plant must undergo a decommissioning process to remove or decontaminate materials and equipment that have been exposed to radioactivity. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires decommissioning to be completed within 60 years of a plant's closure.Cleaning up the site after its closure is estimated to cost more than $1 billion.Board members said it's a good move when it comes to the finances."From a fiscal position, there is no other decision," OPPD board chair Mick Mines said. "That's the way it is."It may prevent a general rate increase for five years, but board members said it's a hard decision when it comes to the hundreds of employees.“We will make every effort to absorb as many employees as possible into other areas of OPPD, based on qualifications and open positions,” CEO Tim Burke said. “We will retrain employees where we have opportunities for success," the release said."They are a very talented, skilled group of people and this is not about them," Fred Ulrich said. "That's the hardest part about this whole thing."Some of those employees came to Thursday's meeting."We've always strived to do the best we can for Fort Calhoun and for the district, so please understand why we take this decision so personally," Fort Calhoun employee Nick Shanks said. "You're talking about my second family and you're talking about my second home."OPPD officials said they can now come up with a staffing plan to determine how many employees they'll need for how long. Although the plant will go offline in less than six months, the decommissioning will take much longer. The SAFSTOR decommissioning option selected by the board could take up to 60 years while the facility is maintained, allowing the radioactive material to decay.OPPD officials said they've already been producing more electricity than the market needs, so they won't be replacing everything lost by the closing of the Fort Calhoun station. But most of what is replaced will be with natural gas and wind energy.Previous coverage:As the vote looms to close the Omaha Public Power District's nuclear plant, utility executives pick a way to decommission the station.At a committee meeting Tuesday, CEO Tim Burke and his management team recommended the SAFSTOR option for pulling the plant offline.It comes with a potential $1.2 billion price tag over 60 years.The other option -- called "decon" -- was a $1 billion cost through 2050.SAFSTOR allows the district "flexibility," according to Burke. OPPD's choice "brings greater value to our customer-owners," according to the recommendation.Picking SAFSTOR allows OPPD to move into decon at some point in the future, according to utility executives."In next two to three years, we'd begin to work on decon plan, and share some greater clarity about what it looks like," Burke told board members.While company executives continue to push for closing the plant by year's end, the board made no official decision. They will vote on the recommendation at the public meeting Thursday.