Exelon notifies NRC of intent to shut TMI
Exelon Generation officially notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week it plans to shut down Three Mile Island Nuclear Station in September 2019.
J. Bradley Fewell, senior vice president for Regulatory Affairs and general counsel, Exelon Generation, signed the letter sent to the NRC, which was dated June 20.
The letter is part of the official process to shut down the plant “due to severe economic challenges,” it stated, the Middletown (Pa.) Press & Journal newspaper reported.
A separate letter was sent to regional transmission organization PJM Interconnection in late May. PJM operates and manages the high-voltage electricity grid for more than 65 million people in all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.
TMI has failed to clear the past three auctions held by PJM, which basically means TMI is unable to produce electricity at the price the market is willing to pay, Kallanish Energy understands.
“Three Mile Island Unit 1 is unprofitable and has lost more than $300 million over the past five years despite being one of Exelon’s best-performing plants,” states the letter to PJM, signed by Bryan C. Hanson, president and chief nuclear officer of Exelon Nuclear.
Hanson states nuclear energy in Pennsylvania is not part of the state’s alternative energy portfolio standard, which puts it at a disadvantage with both carbon-based and other “green” energy sources.
