Platts: Palo Verde nuclear plant clears another hurdle for license renewal
Arizona Public Service moved closer to receiving approval to renew the operating licenses for the three Palo Verde nuclear units in Arizona with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's issuance of a final safety evaluation report.
In a statement Thursday, the NRC said there are no open safety items that would preclude renewing the units' operating licenses for an additional 20 years.
Operating licenses for Palo Verde-1, -2 and -3 expire in 2025, 2026 and 2027, respectively. Each unit is rated at 1,428 MW, the largest of any nuclear units operating in the US. The plant itself is the largest US electricity generation plant of any kind and one of only four US nuclear stations with three units.
Earlier this month, the NRC issued its final environmental report on APS' license renewal application, concluding there are no environmental impacts that would preclude extended operation of the Palo Verde units. An environmental report and a safety report are the two main parts of NRC staff's review of license renewal requests.
The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent group of experts that advises the NRC on reactor safety matters, will discuss the report during a February meeting. The committee will later issue a letter to the commission discussing the results of the review.
A decision on the renewal by the director of NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation is scheduled for April if no hearing is held, or a decision by the commission is scheduled for October if there is a hearing, NRC said on its website.
More than half of the 104 operating power reactors in the US have already received approval for renewal of their licenses, and operators of the remaining reactors have applied for renewals or are expected to do so.
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