December 22, 2020

FirstEnergy has completed the sale of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant Unit 2 (TMI-2) to Utah-based EnergySolutions, completing a process that included state and federal regulatory approvals. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) gave final approval of the TMI-2 license transfer on Dec. 2. The sale was completed on Dec. 18.

The transaction paves the way for the decommissioning of the facility, located in Londonderry Township, Pa.

“With this transfer, FirstEnergy has completely exited the nuclear power business,” said Greg Halnon, vice president, Nuclear Regulatory Affairs. “The project involved excellent and professional efforts from our business services, legal, state regulatory affairs, communications, enterprise risk and nuclear regulatory affairs.”

In 1979, TMI-2 experienced a partial meltdown which resulted in permanent closure of the plant. Following cleanup, the TMI-2 facility remained in a safe and stable storage condition known as Post Defueling Monitored Storage. FirstEnergy acquired the damaged plant as a part of the 2001 merger with GPU.

TMI-2’s sister unit – TMI-1 – continued to operate until 2019, when it was shut down by its owner, Exelon. While TMI-1 remained in operation, some non-nuclear elements shared by the two plants were required for operation. But once TMI-1 closed, the stage was set for the final decommissioning of TMI-2.

FirstEnergy will have an ongoing monitoring relationship with EnergySolutions to ensure proper decommissioning and to protect the public and the company from future risks.