Federal regulators approved the sale of Three Mile Islands Unit 2 on Wednesday to a Utah-based company that will be charged with completing the decommissioning process that began after a partial meltdown in 1979.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissions approval came with no public hearing on the matter and amid ongoing concern by state officials over the new owners ability to pay for decommissioning.

In March, the previous owner FirstEnergy estimated that it would cost $1.4 billion to dismantle the plant versus the $900 million it set aside for the decades-long process. In 2019, First Energy asked the NRC to transfer its license along with ratepayer-funded money set aside from decommissioning to EnergySolutions.

The global nuclear downturn has increasingly led energy companies to shutter their reactors, including Exelons decision to mothball Three Mile Island Unit 1. That, in turn, resulted in an opening for companies like EnergySolutions to make money off the clean up of old nuclear sites.

Much of the damaged reactor core at Unit 2 was transported to Idaho in the years after the 1979 accident and, in 1993, the plant was placed into defueling monitored storage status. An uncertain amount contaminated material remains that will be the responsibility of EnergySolutions to safely dispose of.

The absence of a national nuclear waste repository, radioactive material from both units will likely remain at the site in Londonderry Township for the foreseeable future possibly for decades to come.

Earlier this year, state Environmental Secretary Patrick McDonnell raised a number of concerns about the transfer, including the question of whether EnergySolutions would have enough money for the cleanup.

READ MORE: We believe theres a clear and present danger: Three Mile Island decommissioning in question

In August, however, the state Department of Environmental Protection reached a settlement with FirstEnergy that called for the creation of a decommissioning advisory panel but did not include any financial guarantees or other safeguards like the ones included in similar agreements in California and Massachusetts.

The agency appeared to have second thoughts, at least according to the NRC notice dated Nov. 23.

Pennsylvanias NRC liaison, who was not named in the filing but is David Allard, told federal regulators that the state has no legal objections to granting the [sale] but is still concerned about the adequacy of financial resources to complete the radiological decommissioning of TMI-2.

DEP spokesman Neil Shader said Monday, when PennLive reported the NRCs expected decision, that the agencys ongoing concerns specifically center around conditions inside the reactor. In essence: If theyre worse than FirstEnergy described in its 2019 proposal, the cleanup could cost significantly more than $1.4 billion.

Ultimately, the NRC has jurisdiction over the site, Shader said, but DEP wanted it noted and wanted the ability to conduct independent radiological [studies].

DEPs settlement with FirstEnergy, while not addressing decommissioning costs, does give the agency access to the site to take radiation measurements and collect samples.

Shader said Wednesday that DEP staff has been out to Unit 1, which is owned by Exelon, but has not been cleared to enter Unit 2 yet.

This will happen soon now that the license transfer is complete, he said, in a written statement. DEP does not have a more recent survey/characterization [of radioactivity levels].

In addition to approving the sale of Unit 2, the NRC also formally approved emergency planning exemptions requested by Exelon, which held that responsibility for both units. That means Exelon will no longer contribute funding to local governments and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency. It also halted off-site radiation monitoring and maintenance of early warning systems.

Pennsylvania, through PEMA and the DEP, itself plans to resume at least some of the activities at the cost of taxpayers.

Nuclear watchdog Eric Epstein, who unlike the DEP is still actively contesting the sale, said Monday the DEP was notified of the NRCs decision weeks before he was. According to the NRC filing, the NRC informed the state agency on Oct. 8. Epstein said he was told a week ago.

DEP is saying, go ahead but, oh, by the way, we still have concerns, Epstein said. If thats the case, why did you sign a [expletive] settlement? Youre either in or youre out.

Both DEP and Epstein had requested a public hearing on the matter.

Although Epsteins request is still pending, the NRC filing dismisses the possibility wholesale: The hearing, if granted, will not be completed prior to the approval of the license transfer application.

That language left Epstein, whos been involved in activism around Three Mile Island for decades, gobsmacked. Hes still weighing his options, since his request for a hearing appears to be moot.

I dont know if this is logistically or realistically reversible, he said.

And theres a lot at stake. Nuclear decommissioning is a decades-long process that can run into the billions of dollars. The time scale involved means that companies can change hands multiple times, making it difficult for government regulators to hold anyone to account for a failed cleanup or illegal activity.

READ MORE: Whos paying to decommission Three Mile Island? You are, and youre keeping the nuclear waste, too.

Epstein and many other activists worry the transfer to an out-of-state company without much of a track record could leave taxpayers even more vulnerable if the plan falters. Ratepayers already helped fund a portion of the $900 decommissioning trust fund that FirstEnergy will transfer to EnergySolutions.

Three Mile Island has befuddled clean-up experts for over four decades, he said, and this is the wrong time to take a legal short cut.

At very least, Epstein plans to appeal the NRCs license transfer approval.

From there, he faces a difficult question: Is it worthwhile to spend the time and money to pursue the matter in federal court? His end goal, regardless of the means, is the removal of all radioactive waste from the site.

A similar license transfer at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station was the subject of a lawsuit by the Massachusetts state attorney general that resulted in financial requirements for the new owner. But Epstein and the TMI Alert organization do not have the same resources an attorney general would have to pursue such litigation.

What Im trying to figure out, with limited resources and with a decidedly hostile forum: Where and when would we ask for due process? Epstein said. I dont know that we have the ability to appeal this edict.

And the NRCs decision to approve the Three Mile Island license transfer could set a precedent for other nuclear reactors across Pennsylvania that are shuttered or still operating but losing money. FirstEnergy, which was the subject of a recent bribery scandal in neighboring Ohio, has also threatened to shut down the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station north of Pittsburgh, although that reactor remains open for now.

TMI is the first nuclear domino, Epstein said.

This article was updated to include additional information about the Pilgrim settlement.

Wallace McKelvey may be reached at wmckelvey@pennlive.com. Follow him on Twitter @wjmckelvey. Find PennLive on Facebook.

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Feds approve sale of Three Mile Island amid concern about new owners ability to pay for decommissioning - PennLive