Basic Facts:
- Location: Rowe, Massachusetts
- Owner: Yankee Atomic Electric Company
- Total Construction Cost: $390M (2018$)
- Total Plant Output: 165 MW
- Property Size: 1,800 acres
- Status: Decommissioning complete 2007
- Decommissioning Cost: $1,100M (2018$)
- Spent Nuclear Fuel on Site: 127 metric tons
Background
Yankee Rowe was a 165 MW pressurized water reactor on the shores of the Deerfield River in northwestern Massachusetts. It began commercial operations in 1960 and ran for 32 years until 1992 when the plant was permanently shut down for economic reasons.
Decommissioning
Plant decommissioning commenced in 1997. In 2003, all spent fuel had been transferred to on-site dry storage. Plant decommissioning was completed in 2007. That year the federal license for the site was also reduced to the Stand-Alone Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) site. The NRC license will be terminated after the ISFSI is decommissioned. The plant owners have made no decisions regarding the disposition of the former plant site property and have established no timetable for making such a decision. Additional decommissioning information may also be found at the company website.
Socioeconomics
Yankee Rowe is located in Franklin County, Massachusetts. As of 2016:
- Population: 70,000
- Per Capita Annual Income: $50,000
- Unemployment rate (not seasonally adjusted): 3%
Until the year of its decommissioning in 1992, the Yankee Rowe plant was one of the largest employers and taxpayers in Franklin County. During the last full year of operations, the plant paid the Town of Rowe $696,000 (1991$) in property taxes. In 1994, the plant contributed approximately $200k in property taxes, which was approximately 25% of its 1991 payments. Today, in steady state ISFSI operations the property taxes are approximately $300k annually.
Contact Information
Economic Development Administration Representative:
- Debra Bevin, Philadelphia Regional Office, t: (215) 597-8719, e: [email protected]
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Contact (Spent Fuel Storage)
- John Nguyen, Project Manager, t: (301) 415-0262, e: [email protected]
Unless specific costing information has been provided, decommissioning costs were derived from 2017 Decommissioning Funding Status Report.
Information herein obtained from public sources. Corrections are welcome and may be directed to [email protected].
Additional Information
These dumpsters of old nuclear waste are costing taxpayers a fortune
Boston Globe article on spent nuclear fuel at the Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Plant.
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