NorthStar Completes Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor Removal and Shipment

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Nov 13, 2023, 15:58 ET

SUNOL, Calif., Nov. 13, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- NorthStar Group Services, Inc. (NorthStar) today announced its completion of the removal of the Vallecitos boiling water reactor (VBWR) from the GEH Vallecitos Nuclear Center and arrival at its affiliate, Waste Control Specialists, LLC (WCS) for disposal.

In operation from 1957 to 1963 the VBWR was the first privately owned and operated nuclear power plant to deliver significant quantities of electricity to a public utility grid, as well as being the first nuclear power plant operating license issued by the Atomic Energy Commission (NPR-1). It was deactivated, defueled, and put into SAFESTOR status decades ago in preparation for eventual decommissioning.

Nearly sixty years after the VBWR was shut down for the last time, on October 18, 2023, NorthStar removed the reactor vessel from its containment structure, beginning the journey to its final disposal.

Removal of the VBWR is an important milestone in the restoration of the site to conditions suitable for productive reuse for other commercial or industrial purposes. NorthStar's work at the Vallecitos Nuclear Center is in furtherance of a deal, announced in May, between NorthStar and GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH) through which NorthStar will eventually assume ownership and licensure over the entire Vallecitos Nuclear Center to complete the work of site restoration previously begun by GEH. GEH and NorthStar are currently seeking the regulatory approvals necessary to enable full transfer of the site and associated license to NorthStar consistent with the deal structure.

The reactor vessel is 9ft in diameter, 22ft tall and weighs over 100,000 pounds. Following over a year of planning, the reactor vessel was prepared for shipment and removed by NorthStar. The reactor was loaded onto a highway transport system and then loaded into a specially configured railcar at a rail transload facility for a direct trip by rail to a NorthStar-affiliated licensed disposal facility in Texas. The shipment met all federal and state safety and regulatory requirements for transportation.

The VBWR Reactor Vessel arrived safely at its destination in early November and will be safely disposed at the licensed radioactive waste disposal facility, providing permanent isolation from the environment.

NorthStar is also actively working on decommissioning utility-scale commercial reactors at the former Entergy Vermont Yankee Power Station in Vernon, VT and, through its Accelerated Decommissioning Partners joint venture, at the Crystal River 3 commercial nuclear reactor complex in Citrus County, Florida

About NorthStar

Based in New York, New York, NorthStar Group Services, Inc. is the world's largest and most comprehensive facility and environmental services contracting group with annual revenue in excess of $1B. For more than 30 years, NorthStar has provided solutions to both commercial and government decommissioning and closure projects, including experience working with and for major regional electric utilities and U.S. Department of Energy nuclear facilities. NorthStar is licensed in all 50 states. Learn more at: www.northstar.com.

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