NRC: News Release - 2008-166 - NRC Renews Operating License of FitzPatrick Nuclear Plant for an Additional 20 Years

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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
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No. 08-166

September 9, 2008

NRC RENEWS OPERATING LICENSE OF
FITZPATRICK NUCLEAR PLANT FOR AN ADDITIONAL 20 YEARS
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating license of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant for an additional 20 years.

The FitzPatrick plant, located 8 miles northeast of Oswego, N.Y., began commercial operations in 1975, and its operating license was set to expire in 2014. The licensee, Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., submitted its license renewal application Aug. 1, 2006. With the renewal, signed Sept. 8, the license is extended until Oct. 17, 2034.

The NRC’s environmental review for this license renewal is described in a site-specific supplement to the NRC’s “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Power Plants” (NUREG-1437, Supplement 31), issued last January. The review concluded there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the license for environmental reasons. Public meetings to discuss the environmental review were held near the plant Oct. 12, 2006, and Aug. 1, 2007.

After carefully reviewing the plant’s safety systems and specifications, the staff concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude license renewal, because the licensee had demonstrated the capability to manage the effects of plant aging. The final “Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant” was published last January. In addition, NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information submitted by the licensee. The reports relating to the FitzPatrick renewal are available on the NRC Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/fitzpatrick.html.

On March 20, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - an independent body of technical experts which advises the Commission - issued its recommendation that the operating license for FitzPatrick be renewed. That recommendation is contained in “Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Application for the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant.” This document is available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/letters/2008/.

The FitzPatrick renewal brings the total number of operating license renewals to 49 reactor units. A complete listing of renewal applications can be found on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal.html.

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