Vogtle licensed for 20 more years

Thursday, 4 June 2009

Two nuclear reactors in Georgia can look forward to operating until the middle of the century following a decision by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to award 20-year licence renewals to Vogtle 1 and 2.

The sun's not setting yet on Vogtle units 1 and 2 (Image: NRC)

The new licences for the two 1215 MWe pressurised water reactors (PWRs) will expire in 2047 and 2049 respectively. Unit 1 has been in commercial operation since 1987, and unit 2 since 1989. The NRC's decision to renew the units' licences is the culmination of a two-year process triggered by Southern Nuclear Operating Company's licence renewal application in June 2007.  

 

Commercial power reactors in the US were originally licensed by the NRC for up to 40 years of operation under the terms of the country's Nuclear Energy Act. Operators can apply for their licences to be renewed for up to a further 20 years in a two-track process that reviews both safety and environmental issues as well as including public participation. According to the NRC, it had concluded that there were no environmental reasons to preclude the renewal by the end of 2008, and reached a similar conclusion on the safety aspects in April 2009. The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent body of technical experts advising the NRC, issued its recommendation that the licence renewal be approved last month.

The Vogtle units join the other 52 American reactors that have already been granted 20-year licence renewals. The regulator is currently reviewing a further twelve renewal applications covering 16 units. These reactors make a majority of the USA's 104-unit nuclear power fleet.

Vogtle is one of two operating nuclear facilities in Georgia and is jointly owned by Georgia Power, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia and the City of Dalton. It is also a potential site for the construction of two new nuclear reactors.

 

Southern Nuclear lodged an application for a Construction and Operating Licence for two new AP1000 PWR units at the site in April 2008, following an earlier application for an Early Site Permit. Southern subsidiary Georgia Power has signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project with the Shaw and Westinghouse AP1000 consortium. In March 2009, the Georgia Public Service Commission voted to approve the new units, which are slated to enter service in 2016 and 2017.