NRC issues subsequent license renewalsNuclear NewsPower & OperationsMarch 9, 2020, 10:18AM|Nuclear News StaffExelon Generation’s Peach Bottom-2 and -3, located in Delta, Pa., have joined Florida Power & Light Company’s Turkey Point-3 and -4 as the only U.S. nuclear reactors licensed to operate for a total of 80 years.On March 5, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued subsequent license renewals to Exelon for the Peach Bottom boiling water reactors, with expiration dates of August 8, 2053, for Unit 2, and July 2, 2054, for Unit 3. The FPL units received their first--in--the-nation SLRs last December (NN, Jan. 2020, p. 15).“We are pleased with the NRC’s decision to grant a subsequent license renewal for Peach Bottom Units 2 and 3,” said Bryan Hanson, Exelon Nuclear’s chief nuclear officer, in a statement. “This plant is well suited to continue running safely, reliably, and efficiently, given the extensive upgrades accomplished over the past seven years.”According to the utility, significant investments have been made recently in new equipment and technologies at Peach Bottom, leading to an increase in generation capacity of approximately 12 percent. The plant’s high- and low-pressure turbines, for instance, as well as the steam dryers, main generators, and main power transformers, have been replaced or upgraded.“The ability to operate Peach Bottom for another 20 years is good news for the environment, our employees, and the community,” Hanson said. “However, nuclear plants must remain financially viable to continue to operate. It’s critical that we continue to pursue policy reforms that value the environmental, economic, and reliability benefits that zero--carbon nuclear energy provides.”Exelon estimates that if Peach Bottom continues to generate electricity through 2054, more than 536 million tons of carbon will be prevented from entering the atmosphere—the equivalent of removing 3.3 million cars from the roads every year for 34 years.The SLR application for Peach Bottom was submitted in July 2018 (NN, Sept. 2018, p. 20), and in June of the following year, an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board terminated the adjudicatory proceeding regarding the application brought by the antinuclear group Beyond Nuclear.Tags:exelonlicense renewalpeach bottomShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Labor union leader weighs in on closure of Illinois nuclear plantsLonnie Stephenson, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, wrote an op-ed published in the September 25 Chicago Sun-Times touting the benefits of nuclear power in Illinois and decrying Exelon’s plan to prematurely shutter the Byron and Dresden plants.Go to Article
Unions respond to Exelon’s intention to shutter nuclear plantsThe flurry of public statements issued in reaction to last Thursday’s news regarding Exelon’s decision to prematurely retire its Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants includes one from an organization representing the North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU).Go to Article
Exelon to close Byron and Dresden plants in 2021Exelon Generation, operator of the largest nuclear reactor fleet in the United States, intends to downsize that fleet next year by retiring its Byron and Dresden plants. In an announcement released early this morning, Exelon said that the two-unit Byron, located near Byron, Ill., would be permanently closed in September 2021, followed in November by the two-unit Dresden, located in Morris, Ill.Byron is licensed to operate for another 20 years; Dresden, a much older facility, is licensed for another decade.Go to Article
More from UWC 2020This year’s Utility Working Conference, held on August 11, had a dynamic opening plenary and a packed roster of informative sessions. Following are recaps of some of the 12:00 p.m. (EDT) sessions that took place.You can read about the UWC's opening plenary here.Look for more meeting recaps later today.Go to Article
UWC 2020: A call for transformational changeBowing to current COVID-19 realities but buoyed by the success of June’s virtual Annual Meeting, ANS event planners returned to the virtual realm for this year’s Utility Working Conference. Originally scheduled for August 9–12 at Marco Island, Fla., the condensed event was held Wednesday, August 11, wherever registrants’ computer devices happened to be located.In addition to 26 educational sessions and workshops, UWC 2020 featured an opening plenary session titled “Achieving Transformational Change: A leadership discussion,” moderated by Bob Coward, MPR Associates principal officer and ANS past president (2017–2018). Plenary panelists included representatives from three utilities—Arizona Public Service (APS), Exelon, and Xcel Energy—plus the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.In addition to coverage of the opening plenary further below, Newswire also covered other UWC sessions from the day, which are available for reading here:More from UWC 2020 Click hereMore from UWC 2020: Round 2 Click hereMore from UWC 2020: Round 3 Click hereThe opening plenary coverage starts directly below:Go to Article
UWC Virtual Summit takes place today - Register now!The 2020 Utility Working Conference Virtual Summit promises to be a valuable experience for all attendees—and may exceed previous in-person UWC meetings in some ways.“This program overall is the most aggressive and complex that we have ever put together,” said Vince Gilbert, this year’s technical program chair, who has been actively involved with the UWC since 1998.The normally three-day event is being shortened to a one-day online meeting—August 11—due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Don't miss out on this unique event. Register now for the virtual summit.Can't participate live? No problem, you can access all of the sessions afterward on demand at your convenience.Go to Article
Exelon, EDF ask NY to okay proposed nuclear dealExelon Generation and Électricitéde France have asked the New York Public Service Commission to approve the transfer of EDF’s 49.99 percent ownership interest in Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) to Exelon, which owns 50.1 percent. CENG is the owner of New York’s Ginna and Nine Mile Point nuclear plants, as well as Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs. Go to Article
A look at refueling in the COVID-19 eraAccording to the federal government, certain critical infrastructure industries have a special responsibility during the coronavirus pandemic to continue operations, including the nuclear power industry.Go to Article
Illinois plants set outage performance marksFour of six Illinois nuclear power plants—Braidwood, Byron, LaSalle, and Quad Cities—set operational records while conducting spring refueling outages amid the COVID-19 pandemic.Performance records include the shortest refueling outage (18 days) at LaSalle; the shortest refueling outage at Quad Cities (16 days), as well as the completion of the site’s longest continuous run (722 days); and the completion at both Braidwood and Byron of their sixth consecutive continuous cycle of operations, also known as a “breaker-to-breaker” run, according to a May 7 press release from Exelon Generation. Exelon’s average outage duration in Illinois this spring was 17 days, a full two weeks shorter than the national average, the release stated.Go to Article
Coronavirus at U.S. plants: UPDATEHere are some important updates to our April 10 story on COVID-19 cases at nuclear power plants:Go to Article
