FitzPatrick licence extended to 2034

Wednesday, 10 September 2008

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has renewed the operating licence for Entergy's FitzPatrick nuclear power plant in the state of New York.
 

Entergy's FitzPatrick plant (Image: NRC)

The original licence for plant - a 778 MWe boiling water reactor (BWR) which began operating in 1975 - was due to expire on 17 August 2014, but with the NRC has now extended the licence for a further 20 years, until 2034. Entergy submitted its licence renewal in August 2006 with the result that FitzPatrick is the 49th US reactor to have its operating licence renewed by the NRC.
 

The NRC's environmental review for the licence renewal concluded that there were no environmental impacts that would preclude renewal of the licence for environmental reasons. After reviewing the plant's safety systems and specifications, the NRC also concluded that there were no safety concerns that would preclude licence renewal.
 

Mark Kansler, Entergy's president and chief nuclear officer, said: "This is an important decision for the energy security of the region that gets electricity from FitzPatrick. Licence renewal allows the plant to continue to generate safe, clean, reliable and low-cost energy well into New York's future." He added, "Renewing the licences of our plants is also vital to our 650 FitzPatrick employees and to the areas in which we operate."