US regulator renews Comanche Peak licences

Vistra submitted its application for a 20-year operating licence extension for review by the NRC in 2022. The regulator issued its safety evaluation report in March this year, and a final supplemental environmental impact statement was issued in April, concluding that that no environmental impacts would preclude renewing the licences for an additional 20 years of operation.

The NRC is authorised under the US Atomic Energy Act to issue licences for commercial power reactors to operate for up to 40 years - a time period based on economic and antitrust considerations, rather than limitations of nuclear technology. Licences can be renewed for an additional 20 years for an operating lifetime of 60 years.

Comanche Peak unit 1's operating licence will now expire in February 2050, and unit 2's in February 2053.

Almost all of the USA's currently operating nuclear reactors have already renewed or applied to renew their licences for up to 60 years of operation. Comanche Peak is the third of Vistra's four nuclear plants to receive its licence extension following Beaver Valley and Davis-Besse. The company filed a licence renewal application for the single-unit Perry nuclear power plant in 2023, and this is currently being reviewed by the NRC, alongside applications for Exelon's Clinton and Pacific Gas & Electric's two-unit Diablo Canyon. The regulator also expects to receive a licence renewal application for the Tennessee Valley Authority's Watts Bar unit 1 in 2026.

"With demand for electricity growing at a rapid pace, reliable sources of power, like Comanche Peak, are going to be absolutely essential to meeting that need," said Jim Burke, president and CEO of Vistra. "Importantly, this demand growth is happening at the same time as the country is transitioning to cleaner energy sources and many fossil plants are retiring. Electricity is one of the most basic building blocks of the economy, and extending the operation of our nuclear fleet provides decades of support for both existing and growing sectors."

Comanche Peak lies about 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Fort Worth, Texas. Extending the plant's operation ensures continued economic benefits to the local area, Vistra said: the plant is operated by more than 600 employees and more than 200 permanent contractors, supplemented by 800-1200 further contractors during refuelling outages, and pays more than USD30 million a year in state and local taxes.