NRC APPROVES POWER UPRATE FOR SUSQUEHANNA
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by PPL Susquehanna to increase the generating capacity of Susquehanna Units 1 and 2 by 13 percent each.

The NRC staff determined that PPL could safely increase the reactors’ output primarily by upgrading certain plant systems and components. NRC staff also reviewed PPL’s evaluations showing the plant’s design can handle the increased power level.

The NRC's safety evaluation of the plant’s proposed power uprate focused on several areas, such as the nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations and training, testing, and technical specification changes. For added confidence in the analysis, the NRC staff also conducted independent calculations and evaluations of selected areas.

The power uprate for Susquehanna, located about five miles northeast of Berwick, Penn., will increase each reactor’s generating capacity from approximately 1,200 to 1,300 megawatts electric. PPL intends to implement the uprates in two steps for Unit 1, during the spring 2008 and 2010 refueling outages, and in one step for Unit 2 during the spring 2009 refueling outage.

The NRC previously published a notice about the power uprate application in the Federal Register providing the public an opportunity to comment or request a hearing. Eric Epstein of the group TMI Alert submitted a hearing request, which the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board denied on July 27, 2007. The Commission upheld the Board’s decision on Oct. 5, 2007. The agency’s evaluation of the Susquehanna uprate will be available through the NRC’s ADAMS electronic document database by entering ML080390086 on this Web page: http://adamswebsearch.nrc.gov/dologin.htm.

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Tuesday, April 08, 2008