SNC-Lavalin’s CDI joint venture company closes deal to decommission Massachusetts’ Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station

Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI), a joint venture company of SNC-Lavalin (TSX:SNC) and Holtec International, has been awarded its second commercial contract worth hundreds of millions of dollars to decommission the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Under the contract with Holtec, CDI will be responsible for decommissioning, demolishing and cleaning up the single-reactor facility beginning this year, now that site ownership has transferred to Holtec from Entergy Corporation. Pilgrim joins Oyster Creek as CDI’s second decommissioning project. SNC-Lavalin will report the related services revenues under SNCL Engineering Services.

“CDI is pleased to welcome 270 former Pilgrim station employees to the project,” said Kelly Trice, President, CDI. “Their knowledge of the local community and the single-reactor Pilgrim plant, coupled with CDI’s approach to beginning the decommissioning process now will ensure we restore the site for re-use in the safest and shortest possible time.”

Using innovative technologies, CDI aims to safely and efficiently decommission and dismantle the facility decades earlier than would have otherwise been the case. Within a few years of the plant’s shutdown, used nuclear fuel will be placed in structurally impregnable dry storage systems, which is unprecedented in the history of decommissioning nuclear plants. Finally, upon completion, the vast majority of the 1,700 acre site will be rendered fit for commercial/industrial use.

“This project further illustrates the breadth of SNC-Lavalin’s expertise across the entire nuclear fuel cycle. In line with our strategy, it continues and builds on the momentum for a busy and active future for CDI in reactor decommissioning,” said Sandy Taylor, President, Nuclear, SNC-Lavalin. “While we are strong proponents for the future of carbon-free, nuclear power around the world, through the industry-leading expertise and technologies that we bring to nuclear new build opportunities and through our life-extending refurbishment projects, the efficient and safe decommissioning of reactors and restoration of sites for further use is a key component to maintain public confidence in our industry and is a significant part of our business.”

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the transfer of the Pilgrim licence from Entergy to Holtec and plant ownership was transferred in August 2019. Agreements are also in place between Holtec and Entergy for its US Indian Point, NY, Palisades, MI nuclear units, in which CDI will be the Decommissioning General Contractor, following each plant’s closure.

SNC-Lavalin and Holtec’s decommissioning history gives CDI more than a half century of experience managing complex projects in both the commercial and government nuclear sectors worldwide. Coupled with strong project planning and management, this will result in a predictable decommissioning program. The nuclear business, along with EDPM, remains a key pillar in SNC-Lavalin’s growth platform.

Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI), headquartered in Camden, New Jersey, is a joint venture company of Holtec International (USA) and SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC). CDI seeks to become an industry-leading decommissioning company by providing comprehensive project solutions for retiring nuclear power plants. CDI’s global operations provide expertise and technological innovation to protect the public in an environmentally responsible, safe and ethical manner. The joint venture company is committed to the enhancement of the communities in which it operates, and employing financially sustainable business practices that ensure the upholding of obligations made as a trusted steward of legacy nuclear materials, www.cdi-decom.com

Holtec International is a privately held energy technology company with operation centers in Florida, New Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the US, and globally in Brazil, Dubai, India, South Africa, Spain, UK and Ukraine. Holtec’s principal business concentration is in the nuclear power industry. Holtec has played a preeminent role since the 1980s by densifying wet storage in nuclear plants’ spent fuel pools deferring the need for and expense of alternative measures by as much as two decades at over 110 reactor units in the US and abroad. Dry storage and transport of nuclear fuel is another area in which Holtec is recognized as the foremost innovator and industry leader with a dominant market share and an active market presence in eighteen countries. Among the Company’s pioneering endeavors are the world’s first below-ground Consolidated Interim Storage Facility being developed in New Mexico and a 160-Megawatt walk away safe small modular reactor, SMR-160. The SMR-160 is developed to bring cost competitive carbon-free energy to all corners of the earth including water-challenged regions. Holtec is also a major supplier of special-purpose pressure vessels and critical-service heat exchange equipment such as air-cooled condensers, steam generators, feedwater heaters, and water-cooled condensers. Virtually all products produced by the Company are built in its three large manufacturing plants in the US and one in India. Thanks to a solid record of consistent profitability and steady growth since its founding in 1986, Holtec has no history of any long-term debt and enjoys a platinum credit rating from the financial markets. Nearly 100 US and international patents protect the Company’s intellectual property from predation by its global competitors and lend predictable stability to its business base. To learn more about Holtec International, visit: www.holtecinternational.com

Founded in 1911, SNC-Lavalin is a fully integrated professional services and project management company with offices around the world. SNC-Lavalin connects people, technology and data to help shape and deliver world-leading concepts and projects, while offering comprehensive innovative solutions across the asset lifecycle. Our expertise is wide-ranging — consulting & advisory, intelligent networks & cybersecurity, design & engineering, procurement, project & construction management, operations & maintenance, decommissioning and sustaining capital – and delivered to clients in four strategic sectors: EDPM (engineering, design and project management), Infrastructure, Nuclear and Resources, supported by Capital. People. Drive. Results. www.snclavalin.com