NorthStar Group Services says physical demolition of the Vermont Yankee BWR is about 99% complete, years ahead of its 2030 commitment, after buying the plant from Entergy in 2019. Remaining work is backfill, riverbank restoration and the NRC partial-site-release review; spent fuel stays in on-site casks.
New to decommissioning? The nuclear decommissioning market in 2026: size, players, pipeline
Current state
| Status | Site restoration |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Vernon, Vermont |
| Site | Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station |
| Units | Unit 1 |
| Unit count | 1 |
| Reactor types | BWR |
| Owner / licensee | NorthStar Vermont Yankee LLC (NorthStar Group Services) |
| Decommissioning contractor | NorthStar Group Services (with Orano) |
| Strategy | Immediate dismantling |
| Final shutdown | 2014-12-29 |
| Decommissioning start | 2019 |
| Target completion | 2030 |
| Decommissioning trust fund | USD 24.8m (as of 2026-01-31) |
| Spent fuel | Spent fuel in dry casks at the on-site ISFSI until DOE removal (NRC assumes transfer complete by 2052). |
| Notable issue | Project consumed almost all of the $602m trust fund inherited by NorthStar; its CEO said ~$8.5m remained in September 2026. |
Notes
target completion 2030 = NRC estimated closure / NorthStar deadline; NorthStar expects physical decommissioning to finish in 2027. Trust balance is the NDT at 31 Jan 2026 per Vermont DPS; a separate site restoration trust held $47.7m.
Timeline
- 2014-12-29 — Entergy permanently shut down Vermont Yankee. (source)
- 2015-01-12 — Fuel was removed from the reactor. (source)
- 2018-10 — NRC approved the license transfer from Entergy to NorthStar for expedited decommissioning. (source)
- 2025-12 — About 99% of the plant had been demolished, per WNA. (source)
- 2026-09-23 — NorthStar said the project was 99% done with $8.5m left in the trust fund and physical work to finish in 2027. (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
- Biblis Nuclear Power Plant (Units A and B) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brokdorf Nuclear Power Plant (KBR) Active dismantling · Germany
- Brunsbüttel Nuclear Power Plant (KKB) Active dismantling · Germany
- Chinshan Nuclear Power Plant Fuel removal · Taiwan
- Chooz A Active dismantling · France
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Doel Nuclear Power Plant (Units 1-3) Shut down · Belgium
- Dounreay (DFR and PFR fast reactors) Active dismantling · United Kingdom
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Vermont Yankee decommissioning is nearly complete — VTDigger / Brattleboro Reformer, checked 2026-10-11
- Vermont Yankee trust balances — Vermont Department of Public Service (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Decommissioning Nuclear Facilities — World Nuclear Association, checked 2026-10-11
- Locations of Power Reactor Sites Undergoing Decommissioning — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11