The Vallecitos Nuclear Center hosted the first privately owned US power reactor (VBWR) and the EVESR superheat reactor, both long in SAFSTOR. NorthStar took ownership from GE Hitachi/GE Vernova in March 2025 and aims to terminate the remaining EVESR license by 2030.
New to decommissioning? The nuclear decommissioning market in 2026: size, players, pipeline
Current state
| Status | Active dismantling |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Sunol, California |
| Site | Vallecitos Nuclear Center |
| Units | VBWR, EVESR |
| Unit count | 2 |
| Reactor types | BWR, Superheat BWR |
| Owner / licensee | NorthStar Vallecitos LLC |
| Decommissioning contractor | NorthStar Group Services |
| Strategy | Mixed |
| Decommissioning start | 2025-03-14 |
| Target completion | 2030 |
| Spent fuel | Spent fuel removed from the site. |
| Notable issue | VBWR residual structures folded into the EVESR license in August 2025 to streamline termination. |
Notes
NorthStar intends to submit an EVESR License Termination Plan by 2028. Both are small early experimental power reactors.
Timeline
- 1970-04-15 — The NRC's predecessor authorized possession-only status for EVESR. (source)
- 2024-04-25 — NRC approved transfer of the Vallecitos Nuclear Center licenses from GEH to NorthStar. (source)
- 2025-03-14 — Licenses transferred to NorthStar Vallecitos LLC. (source)
- 2025-08-19 — NRC issued Amendment 8 moving remaining VBWR structures under the EVESR license. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related sites
- Brennilis (Monts d'Arrée EL-4) Active dismantling · France
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Dresden Unit 1 SAFSTOR · United States
- Duane Arnold Energy Center Restart planned · United States
- Fermi Unit 1 (Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant) SAFSTOR · United States
- Fort Calhoun Station Site restoration · United States
- Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 License terminated · United States
- Indian Point Energy Center (Units 1-3) Active dismantling · United States
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- General Electric Co. - ESADA Vallecitos Experimental Superheat Reactor (EVESR) — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- General Electric Co. - Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor (VBWR) — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- NorthStar Closes GE Hitachi Vallecitos Nuclear Center Decommissioning Deal — NorthStar Group Services (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- NorthStar Vallecitos, LLC; Vallecitos Boiling Water Reactor; License Termination Exemption — Federal Register / NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Locations of Power Reactor Sites Undergoing Decommissioning — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11