US-based EnergySolutions announced on 12 November that it has completed the physical work at the La Crosse Boiling Water Reactor (LACBWR) Decommissioning Project. This includes remediation and removal of radioactive material including confirmation surveys and inspections necessary to demonstrate compliance with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved Licence Termination Plan.

EnergySolutions officially took operational control of the facility through an approved NRC licence transfer process in June 2016 and immediately mobilised a workforce to decommission the plant. “This is the second decommissioning project we have completed this year,” said stated Ken Robuck, President and CEO of EnergySolutions. “As with every decommissioning project there are unique challenges and La Crosse was no different, but our best practices and lessons learned from other projects proved valuable in executing this project safely on schedule and budget.”  

EnergySolutions has worked with local, state and federal regulators in completing the project and has officially demobilised and will now continue to work with NRC to finalise the necessary documentation for transfer of the licence back to Dairyland Power. LACBWR was built in 1967 as part of a joint project with the federal Atomic Energy Commission to demonstrate the peacetime use of nuclear power. It was shut down and placed in safe storage in April 1987.