Asset Retirement Obligations

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Asset Retirement Obligation Disclosure [Abstract]

7. Asset Retirement Obligations

The Company considers its legal obligation to remediate its facilities upon a decommissioning of its radioactive-related operations as an asset retirement obligation. The operations of the Company have radioactive production facilities at its North Billerica, Massachusetts and San Juan, Puerto Rico sites.

The Company is required to provide the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Massachusetts Department of Public Health financial assurance demonstrating the Company’s ability to fund the decommissioning of the North Billerica, Massachusetts production facility upon closure, although the Company does not intend to close the facility. The Company has provided this financial assurance in the form of a $28.2 million surety bond.

The fair value of a liability for asset retirement obligations is recognized in the period in which the liability is incurred. As of March 31, 2017, the liability is measured at the present value of the obligation expected to be incurred, of approximately $26.9 million, and is adjusted in subsequent periods as accretion expense is recorded. The corresponding asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying value of the related long-lived assets and depreciated over the asset’s useful life.

The following table provides a summary of the changes in the Company’s asset retirement obligations:


(in thousands)	Amount
Balance at January 1, 2017	$	9,370
Accretion expense		260

Balance at March 31, 2017	$	9,630