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No. 97-113 August 5, 1997
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has terminated the operating license of the decommissioned Fort St. Vrain Nuclear Generating Station near Platteville, Colorado, and released the site for unrestricted use, as requested by the licensee, Public Service Company of Colorado.
The nuclear power plant, located 35 miles north of Denver, received its operating license in 1973. It was a high-temperature, gas-cooled reactor, capable of producing 330 megawatts of electricity.
Public Service Company notified NRC in 1988 that it had decided to halt Fort St. Vrain operations early because of high operating costs and the plant's frequent shutdowns. The company closed the reactor permanently the following year. The NRC staff in 1992 authorized decommissioning in accordance with the utility's plan. Decommissioning was completed last year.
NRC conducted 24 inspections while decommissioning was under way at Fort St. Vrain. During the most recent ones, conducted from February 1996 through January of this year, NRC reviewed the licensee's final radiation survey results and performed confirmatory surveys of its own.
NRC also published a notice offering an opportunity for a hearing on the decommissioning project, but received no requests. Neither were any comments or requests for a hearing received during a public meeting held last December 3 in the plant vicinity to discuss the termination of the license.
Based on the decommissioning activities conducted by the licensee, NRC's review of the company's final radiation survey report, and NRC inspections and confirmatory surveys, the agency has concluded that the site and facility are suitable to be released for unrestricted use.
Spent nuclear fuel from the Fort St. Vrain plant is stored in an NRC-licensed independent spent fuel storage installation located nearby.
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