NRC EXTENDS REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR NINE MILE POINT
NUCLEAR POWER PLANT LICENSE RENEWAL REQUEST
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is extending its review of Constellation Energy’s application to renew the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant’s operating license for an additional 20 years. The agency’s action will allow a thorough review of information submitted to the NRC.

Constellation submitted the license renewal application May 26, 2004, and NRC staff have been reviewing the application since that time. The staff concluded the review schedule must be extended due to issues with the application’s information. Following extended discussions with NRC staff, Constellation, on March 3, requested a grace period of up to 90 days in order to address the issues. Nine Mile Point continues to operate safely; the issues raised by NRC staff relate to how Constellation would maintain the plant if the license is renewed.

"Since the NRC is committed to public health and safety, we must have complete and up-to-date information on Nine Mile Point before we can reach a decision on whether the operating license can be renewed," said David Matthews, Director of the Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs in the NRC’s Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

In a March 7 letter responding to the company’s request (attached), the NRC has made it clear Constellation must thoroughly re-review the application’s supplements and other supporting documents. Any additions or revisions highlighted by that review must be submitted for further NRC review. As long as the total revised application passes the staff’s review and audit activities, the NRC will extend the review schedule, taking into account staff resources and other license renewal reviews.

Mr. James A. Spina
Vice President Nine Mile Point
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC
P.O. Box 63
Lycoming, NY 13093

SUBJECT: EXTENSION OF STAFF REVIEW SCHEDULE FOR NINE MILE POINT NUCLEAR STATION, UNITS 1 AND 2, LICENSE RENEWAL APPLICATION

Dear Mr. Spina:

We are in receipt of the Nine Mile Point (NMP) letter dated March 3, 2005, wherein NMP addressed the staff’s concerns previously communicated to you on various occasions. In addition, the NMP letter requested a grace period not to exceed 90 days to recover the quality of your license renewal project. We acknowledge your commitment to address quality issues, including those we have discussed on the telephone. We have stopped our review in response to your request. However, as a result of this delay, we will not meet the standard 22 month review schedule.

As part of your recovery efforts, we request that you perform a thorough review of your license renewal supplements, responses to staff’s audit questions, and responses to staff’s requests for additional information. Upon receipt of your submittal confirming the completion of your recovery efforts, the staff will resume our review and audits. Assuming a satisfactory submittal and adequate support from your staff for these review and audit activities, we will extend the review schedule, as appropriate, to accommodate the additional time needed to complete the NMP review and in consideration of competing priorities posed by other concurrent license renewal reviews.

If you have any questions regarding this letter, please contact the NRC Project Manager, Tommy Le, at 301-415-1458; or by e-mail at NBL@nrc.gov.

Sincerely,
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director
License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation

Docket Nos.: 50-220 and 50-410

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Thursday, February 22, 2007