Decommissioning:
Under all NRC operating licenses, once a nuclear plant
ceases generating power, it must be decommissioned. Decommissioning is defined by federal
regulation (10
CFR 50.2) as the safe removal of a facility from service along with the
reduction of residual radioactivity to a level that permits termination of the
NRC operating license. Decommissioning
is intended to restore a nuclear facility to such a condition that it presents
no risk to public health and safety or the environment. For more details on decommissioning, see the
NRC’s description.
In
preparation for a plant’s eventual decommissioning, all nuclear plant owners
must maintain trust funds while the plants are in operation to ensure
sufficient amounts will be available to decommission their facilities. Utilities operating nuclear power plants
collect monthly fees on customers’ electric bills to fund these trusts, which are
further augmented over the life of the plant from returns on investment in
fixed income (bonds) and equity (stocks).
The following tables show all of the decommissioning trust funds
maintained by California utilities, as well as each facility’s Decommissioning
Cost Estimate (DCE), the amounts spent on decommissioning activities, and the
amount (if any) currently collected in rates.
All data
are obtained through data requests to the relevant utilities and are current
through June 30, 2017. Readers should
take careful note of the vintage of the dollars shown in the tables below: different
vintages can explain why numbers may not sum up precisely across columns; another
reason why the DCE may not equal the sum of Total Spent and Trust Fund Balance
is that the DCE is reviewed and approved triennially in a CPUC proceeding,
while the Total Spent and Trust Fund Balances are current as of the date of the
data request.
PG&E
PG&E ($ in millions)
|
| Nuclear Plant |
Total Decommissioning Cost Estimate* |
Total Spent** |
Trust Fund Balance*** |
Current Annual Collections in Rates |
DCPP 1
|
$1,165
|
$0
|
$1,286
|
$0
|
DCPP 2
|
$1,256
|
$0
|
$1,683
|
$0
|
HBPP 3
|
$1,055
|
$802
|
$169
|
$63
|
* Amounts shown are in 2014$
** Amounts shown are nominal $ spent as
of 6/30/17
*** Amounts shown are in 2017$ as of 6/30/17
SDG&E
SDG&E ($ in millions)
|
Nuclear
Plant
|
Total Decommissioning Cost
Estimate *
|
Total Spent***
|
Trust
Fund Balance****
|
Current Annual Collections in
Rates
|
SONGS 1
|
N/A**
|
$121
|
$152
|
$0
|
SONGS
2
|
$424
|
$113
|
$371
|
$0
|
SONGS
3
|
$475
|
$117
|
$422
|
$0
|
* Amounts shown are in 2014$
** The cost estimate
for SDG&E's share of the remaining decommissioning activities at
SONGS 1 set forth in A.16-03-004 is $50 million. In 2009, SDG&E's estimated share
of the cost to decommission SONGS 1 was approximately $197 million (in 2009$). See A.09-09-009 and D.10-07-047.
*** Amounts shown are actual $ spent as of 6/30/16
**** Amounts shown are in 2017$ as of 6/30/17
SCE
SCE ($ in millions)
|
| Nuclear Plant |
Total Decommissioning
Cost Estimate* |
Total Spent*** |
Trust Fund Balance**** |
Current
Annual
Collections
in Rates |
| SONGS 1 |
N/A** |
$658 |
$292 |
$0 |
| SONGS 2 |
$1,575 |
$417 |
$1,198 |
$0 |
| SONGS 3 |
$1,765 |
$415 |
$1,381 |
$0 |
| Palo Verde 1 |
$199 |
$0 |
$365 |
$0 |
| Palo Verde 2 |
$196 |
$0 |
$374 |
$0 |
| Palo Verde 3 |
$213 |
$0 |
$386 |
$0 |
* Amounts
shown for SONGS are in 2014$; amounts for Palo Verde are in 2013$ (Palo Verde amounts submitted in A.16-03-004)
** This amount is the cost estimate for SCE's share of the remaining
decommissioning activities at SONGS 1 as set forth in A16-03-004. In
2009, SCE's estimated share of the cost to decommission SONGS 1
was
approximately $768 million (in 2009$). See A.09-09-009 and D.10-07-047.
*** Amounts shown are actual $ spent as of
12/31/16
**** Amounts shown are in 2016$
Proceedings
Every three years, in the Nuclear Decommissioning Cost Triennial Proceeding (NDCTP),
the CPUC reviews forecasts by the utilities of their expected decommissioning
costs. The 2009 NDCTP was completed in 2013;
the 2012 NDCTP was completed in 2014;
and the 2015 NDTCP for PG&E was recently completed (the 2015 NDCTP for SONGS is ongoing see link below). Withdrawals from the trust funds are subject
to a reasonableness review by the CPUC. These reviews are conducted in
proceedings before the Commission as the utilities submit them. Recent
proceedings that included reasonableness reviews are listed below: