NRC RENEWS OPERATING LICENSE FOR
MONTICELLO NUCLEAR POWER PLANT FOR AN ADDITIONAL 20 YEARS
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has renewed the operating license of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Minnesota for an additional 20 years.

The Monticello plant is located 30 miles northwest of Minneapolis. The licensee, Nuclear Management Co., submitted its license renewal application March 16, 2005. With the renewal, the license is extended until Sept. 8, 2030.

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 26), issued in September. 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 June 30, 2005, and March 22, 2006.

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 effectively the capability to manage the effects of plant aging. The “Safety Evaluation Report Related to the License Renewal of the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant” (NUREG-1865) was published in October. In addition, NRC conducted inspections of the plant to verify information submitted by the licensee. The reports relating to the Monticello renewal are available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/applications/monticello.html.

On Sept. 19, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards - an independent body of technical experts which advises the Commission - issued its recommendation that the operating license for Monticello be renewed. That recommendation is contained in “Report on the Safety Aspects of the License Renewal Application for the Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant.” This document is available on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acrs/letters/2006/.

 The Monticello renewal brings the total number of renewals to 47 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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Thursday, February 22, 2007