NRC: News Release - 2005-161 - NRC Renews Millstone Nuclear Power Station Operating Licenses for an Additional 20 Years

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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs	Telephone: 301/415-8200
Washington, DC 20555-0001	E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
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No. 05-161

November 28, 2005

NRC RENEWS MILLSTONE NUCLEAR POWER STATION
OPERATING LICENSES FOR AN ADDITIONAL 20 YEARS
Printable Version

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating licenses of the Millstone Power Station, Units 2 and 3, for an additional 20 years.

The Millstone plant is located about 3 miles southwest of New London, Conn. The licensee, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., submitted its license renewal applications on Jan. 20, 2004. With the renewal, the license for Unit 2 is extended to July 31, 2035, and the license for Unit 3 is extended to Nov. 25, 2045.

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 22), issued in July. The review concluded there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the licenses for environmental reasons. A public meeting to discuss the environmental review was held near the plant on Jan. 11.

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 "Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of the Millstone Power Station, Units 2 and 3" (NUREG-1838), was published in October. In addition, NRC conducted inspections of the plants to verify information submitted by the licensee. The reports relating to the Millstone renewal are available on the NRC Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/millstone.html.

On Sept. 22, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards – an independent body of technical experts which advises the Commission – issued its recommendation that the operating license for Millstone be renewed. That recommendation is contained in "Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Applications for the Millstone Power Station, Units 2 and 3." This document is available on the NRC Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/letters/2005/. The Millstone renewals bring the total number of renewals to 37 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/applications.html.