Kewaunee Power Station achieved a significant milestone earlier this month when employees working to permanently decommission the facility safely transported the last of the used nuclear fuel to a dry fuel storage facility located on site, according to Dominion Energy.
Since the beginning of 2017, employees at the station have been transferring used nuclear fuel from the facility's spent fuel pool into dry storage containers as part of the ongoing decommissioning effort.
"The Kewaunee team never wavered on their commitment as professionals in the face of knowing that, for many, their jobs were coming to an end with Dominion Energy," said Daniel G. Stoddard, Dominion Energy Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer. "They completed this important decommissioning work with a dedication to excellent performance that sets the standard for the industry."
The company permanently closed the 556-megawatt nuclear station on May 7, 2013 when the unit became financially imprudent to operate, Stoddard said.
Kewaunee station employed about 635 employees at the time the unit was closed. Currently there are 140 employees remaining at the facility, and 90 of them will end their employment with the company during the next nine months after the unit is placed in long-term storage condition.
Kewaunee Power Station, located on Lake Michigan about 35 miles southeast of Green Bay, began commercial operation in 1974. It operated one Westinghouse pressurized water reactor. Dominion acquired the station in July 2005.
Under the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's requirements for decommissioning, radiological contamination must be safely removed and sent to a facility authorized to accept the material within a 60-year period.
